


Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Friends Through Fire

by Dravid3460



Category: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
Genre: Action/Adventure, Fantasy, Friendship, Gen, Nonbinary Character, POV First Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-07
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:54:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 54,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21699568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dravid3460/pseuds/Dravid3460
Summary: Jamie the human has been transformed into a Mudkip and sent to the pokemon world, and they need to get out. They reluctantly team up with a rather rude Snivy and set out on an adventure in search of a magical wish-granting mystery dungeon! Along the way, they'll deal with a mysterious force that corrupts the desires of pokemon...This story does not contain any characters from nor any direct references to the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games. It only uses the general world and plot elements of the franchise.
Relationships: Partner Pokemon & Player Character (Pokemon Mystery Dungeon)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 24





	1. The Beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most chapters for this story will be around 1,200 to 2,400 words long. This first chapter is only 900, because there just isn't a lot going on yet.
> 
> For people unfamiliar with pokemon, here are links to pictures of the pokemon that appear in this chapter:  
> [Snivy](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/thumb/7/75/495Snivy.png/600px-495Snivy.png)  
> [Mudkip](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/thumb/6/60/258Mudkip.png/600px-258Mudkip.png)

Where am I? I see strange colors shifting around me. I try to look around, and I realize I can’t seem to move. I can’t feel my body at all! As I try to make sense of my situation, I hear a voice that feels like it’s coming from inside my head.

“ _Greetings, Human._ ”

Who are you? What’s going on? I try to say that, but no sound seems to come out.

“ _I am Mew, and I need your help to save my world. What is your name?_ ”

Mew? The mythical pokemon? It exists?! And it can talk? It seems like it somehow heard me. My name’s Jamie, I try to say.

“ _Jamie, I’m sorry for taking you from your home, but I don’t have time to explain. Please, help me! My wo.ld i. .n da.g....._ ”

The voice fades away, and I start to feel my body again. The glowing colors around me fade to black, and feeling gradually returns to my body. I can’t move, but I can start to feel myself lying on the ground. My body feels strange and unfamiliar; I can't feel my fingers, but I can feel what seem to be new parts in places they shouldn’t be. I can feel my arms and legs, but they seem... different. I start to hear another voice...

“Hey... hey Mudkip, are you alive?” the voice says, and I feel someone poking my head.

I can move again, but it feels wrong. I open my eyes, and I see... a Snivy, looking down at me, and wearing a pink scarf around its neck. I start to look for whoever spoke to me, but before I can, the Snivy opens its mouth.

“Oh, good, you're alive. You know, a dungeon really isn’t the best place to take a nap,” it says with a smirk.

“Huh? You’re... talking!?” I say. Even my voice feels wrong; it sounds smaller and higher than it should. “How are you talking?”

The Snivy stares at me for a few seconds, silent. “...How am I talking?” it repeated, as if the question was stupid. “The same way you’re talking, I think? I’m Snivy, by the way.”

I pause. “...Okay, but, why did you call me Mudkip?”

The Snivy once again stares at me like I’m an idiot. “Because you’re a Mudkip.”

“What?!” I yell, jumping to my feet before losing my balance and falling onto my hands. My... hands. They don’t feel right. I raise my arm in front of my face-

And see a blue, inhuman limb before me.

I look down at my other arm. Blue. I turn to look at my legs, and they look just like my arms. As I look, I see a white fin attached to a blue body. I experimentally move one of the new parts of my body, and I see the fin wiggle.

“I’m... a Mudkip...”

“...Yes,” the Snivy says slowly. “Did you... lose your memory or something?”

Wait, did I..? “No, I remember! I’m a human, and my name is Jamie! I... I must’ve been transformed into a pokemon!”

“...A human? Really? Alright, ‘Jamie’, assuming humans actually exist, do you actually have any proof that you’re a human?”

“Huh? What do you mean? Of course humans exist!”

“Really? The greatest explorers ever, who traveled every corner of the world, never found any trace of humans, but you know humans exist because ‘of course humans exist’?”

I’m stunned. But then I remember that voice. _‘I need your help to save my world.’ ‘I’m sorry for taking you from your home...’_ A scary thought creeps into my head. “Hey, this is going to sound weird, but, are we on Earth right now?”

"Earth? Oh, I’ve heard that story! Earth is supposed to be the world where humans live! Wow, you’re really committed to this whole human thing Mudkip!”

“I’m not a Mudkip! My name is Jamie!”

“That’s nice Mudkip.” The Snivy thought to itself for a moment. "Say, you're lost, aren't you?"

I take a look at my surroundings. It looks like I'm in a cave, with rock walls and ceiling surrounding me, and a stream of running water off to the side. There doesn't seem to be any sunlight. Instead, blue crystals in the walls glow bright enough to let me see. I'm definitely lost. "I didn't know what planet I'm on, of course I'm lost."

"Well, you're in a mystery dungeon right now-"

"A what?"

The Snivy sighed. "A mystery dungeon. It's a weird, dangerous place that you don't want to get lost in. Sheesh, you don't have to pretend you don't know, I'm sure there are mystery dungeons on 'Earth' too. Anyway, it's not safe to wander a dungeon unprepared and alone. I can help escort you out."

"Oh really? How kind of you. What's the catch?"

"Well, mystery dungeons are dangerous. It's safer to have a partner with you when exploring, so it would help me to have you tag along. Look, you can either get through here alone, or with help from me. Do you really want to go alone?"

I pause and think about my options, quickly realizing that I have no options. If this Snivy is right, and mystery dungeons really are dangerous, it'd be too unsafe for me to be alone; I'm not used to using this new body, and if I'm attacked, I don't know how to fight at all. The Snivy doesn't seem dangerous; it was trusting enough to walk right up to me. It doesn't seem to have bad intentions. With all that considered...

"Alright then Snivy, get me out of this dungeon."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. Comments, questions, and criticisms are encouraged.


	2. Wild Pokemon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For people unfamiliar with pokemon, here are images of the new pokemon that appear in this chapter:  
> [Buizel](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/thumb/8/83/418Buizel.png/600px-418Buizel.png)  
> [Marill](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/thumb/4/42/183Marill.png/600px-183Marill.png)

For a while, Snivy and I walked through the dungeon in silence. I'm not used to having 4 legs, so I had to keep my mind on walking. Now, after a few minutes, I'm starting to get the hang of it, so I decided to ask a few questions.

"So, what makes a 'mystery dungeon' special? How is this place different from any old cave?"

"Oh, lots of things!" says Snivy. "Each mystery dungeon has special properties. Some properties work in all dungeons, but each dungeon also has its own unique properties! For example, this dungeon has lots of water flowing through it, like that stream over there."

I look where Snivy points, and sure enough, there was a small river of running water off to the side of the tunnel. I'd noticed it before, after I'd just woken up, but I didn't think anything of it at the time.

"Running water? That doesn't seem very special..."

"But it is! Come and look!" Snivy says, running over to the stream. "Look into the water."

I follow them and look down at the water. It looked crystal clear, and clean enough to drink! But what's really surprising is that the stone of the cave under the water is replaced by sparkling blue crystal, just like the ones in the cave walls! "Whoa!"

"Right? It's super pretty, and you'll never get thirsty in here! I've even seen the water here flowing uphill!"

We turn away from the stream and continue walking. "Wow, what else is special about mystery dungeons?"

"Well, mystery dungeons are also always changing and shifting, so after a while, the layout will completely change. Mystery dungeons also have a tendency to create things out of thin air, like berries or other items! Oh, and there's also wild pokemon."

"Wait, what was that last pa-"

I'm cut off by a sudden strike from behind, and I go tumbling forward.

"Wild pokemon!" Snivy shouts. I turn around to see a Buizel and a Marill, ready to attack us. "Get up, we need to fight!"

Snivy lashes at the Marril with a vine whip, but Marill dodges backward and sprays bubbles at Snivy. That's all I'm able to watch before I notice the Buizel running towards me! I jump to the side and avoid its attack, but in the process I trip and fall; walking forward is hard enough with this body, jumping is way to difficult.

As I get up, I'm hit with a blast of water from the Buizel. I stay standing this time, and I turn towards the Buizel to attack it. That's when I realize; I have no idea how to fight. Even back in my human body, the closest I got to a fight was watching pokemon battles on TV. I can barely move in this body, and I don't know how to use any moves like water gun. I'm completely helpless.

The Buizel runs towards me for another attack, quickly zig-zagging back and forth to keep me from knowing what direction to dodge. I brace myself as best I can as it tackles into me, knocking me backward. It runs towards me to attack again, and I decide I have to do something, so I jump towards the Buizel with my best attempt at a tackle attack!

It doesn't go great. We bonk our heads together and I end up flying backward, while the Buizel just gets knocked down. It rubs its head in pain before standing up and rearing back for another water gun. I get ready to brace myself, when suddenly a vine smacks the Buizel in the face, quickly followed by another that makes the Buizel stagger backward. Taking advantage, Snivy leaps up and strikes it with their tail, knocking it to the ground.

The Buizel lies motionless on the ground for a moment, then it... evaporates into smoke? I start to stand up, but as the pain hits, I wince and fall back down.

"Hey Mudkip, are you okay?" Snivy asks. "Nothing broken?"

I experimentally moved my legs. I landed pretty badly from that last attack, so they got hurt, but they don't feel broken. "No, just pain," I reply, rubbing my head.

"Here," Snivy says, pulling a blue berry out of a bag by their side and offering it to me. "It's an oran berry. They heal wounds and help with pain."

I reach out to take the berry, but I end up dropping it thanks to a lack of normal fingers. I have to use both my arms, or rather front legs, to pick it back up and put it in my mouth. Eating it isn't difficult, but it does feel weird and unfamiliar, especially without teeth. I end up accidentally swallowing it whole, and surprisingly don't choke. It only takes a few seconds before the pain starts fading away. "Whoa, that worked fast!" I say as I stand up.

"Yep! That's why you always come into a mystery dungeon prepared!" Snivy says, patting the bag at their side. I hadn't noticed the bag before, having been too distracted by a talking pokemon, then by me BEING a pokemon, then by 'mystery dungeons', and so on.

"But, uh... what was that?" Snivy asks.

I raise an eyebrow. "What was what?"

"I mean, what was that fighting back there?! I get that this is your first time in a mystery dungeon, but was that your first time in a fight too?" Snivy says, gesturing angrily.

"Of course it was my first fight! What, did your first battle go better?"

"I don't remember, I was a baby at the time! Didn't you ever play fight with your friends, or siblings, or anyone? Or ever learn to use your abilities? Seriously, its in a pokemon's instinct to fight."

"I'm NOT a pokemon! I'm a human, and my name is Jamie! And I just learned how to walk five minutes ago, how am I supposed to know how to shoot water out of my mouth and stuff?"

Snivy gives an exasperated sigh. "Whatever. Well, you're lucky I found you before any those wild pokemon did. I didn't realize you were this helpless."

That reminds me. "...Hey, why did that Buizel evaporate like that? And why did those pokemon attack us?"

"Oh yeah. Mystery dungeons can create fake pokemon called wild pokemon. They can't really think, and just act on pure instinct, attacking any intruders in the dungeon. I don't remember why, but they disappear when they take enough damage. They're the main reason mystery dungeons are dangerous. Also, I think I deserve some thanks for saving you back there, don't you agree?"

I glare at Snivy for a second, then sigh. "Fine, thanks for saving me. Hey, out of curiosity, what would those pokemon have done to us if we'd lost?"

"They'd kill us."

"SERIOUSLY?!"

"Ha ha ha! Nah, I'm just kidding. They'd probably have either left us there or thrown us out of the dungeon. Oh, and taken our stuff, too."

"Wait, what do you mean 'probably'?"

"Well, each mystery dungeon is different. Sometimes the wild pokemon in them behave differently as well. I don't think these ones would do anything that bad to us, though." Snivy turns and starts walking. "Let's move on. Unless you'd like to find out what they'll do to you?"

"I'll pass, thanks," I say as I follow Snivy through the cave.


	3. Joy Scarves

As we walk through the cave, Snivy suddenly perks up.

"Hey, look over there!" Snivy says, running over to a pool of water.

I follow them and look into the water. The pool is bigger than most others in the dungeon, but looks about the same, with clear water and a crystal bottom. "Huh? It's just another pool."

"Not quite, look there." Snivy points to a spot under the water. I look where Snivy points and notice a hole in the cave wall. "I'm pretty sure there's something just through that hole! You should go through and check it out."

"Me?! Why not you?"

"I'm no good at swimming."

"Neither am I! It was hard enough learning how to walk, how do you expect me to- huh?" Snivy interrupts me by putting a hand on my shoulder. They look at me with an unamused stare for a few seconds...

Then shove me into the water.

I'm barely able to take a breath before I hit the water. I panic and flail around for a moment, not knowing how to move around in the water, and luckily end up angling myself towards the surface. I frantically kick my legs and wave my arms in a swimming motion, which successfully pushes me upward.

I gasp for air the moment I breach the surface. I wasn't under very long, but I wasn't ready and didn't have much air in my lungs. "Why did you do that?! I could have drowned!" I yell up at Snivy.

"You're a WATER TYPE, you CAN'T drown!" they shout back.

"...Oh. Really?"

"Yes! How do you even- Ugh, forget it. Look, you can keep whatever you find back there, just go get it."

Well now I feel like an idiot. Of course water type pokemon can't drown. Still... I dive back under the water and hesitate a moment, planning on taking in a small breath, when I realize I'm not running out of breath. I'm a little confused, until I remember hearing something about some pokemon breathing through their skin, so I guess Mudkip can do that too? In any case, I'm not drowning.

With that settled, I swim towards the hole in the wall fairly easily. Mudkip are made to swim, so it makes sense that I'd be able to pick up swimming without much trouble in this body. As I swim, I start to think about all this. I'm a pokemon, in some world with no humans. I don't want to be here; it's dangerous and unfamiliar, and I don't like this body. I need to get out of here. I want to go back to the life I had before... Wait, is one of my new body parts moving?

I stop swimming and turn to look at my tail fin. I wiggle it, and I move forward a bit. I think I was subconsciously using it to swim? As I start swimming again, I try using my fin, and it makes moving around in the water a lot easier. Neat!

By now, I've passed through the hole in the wall, and I swim to the surface on the other side. I find a small room with a bit of dry land in it. On the ground is a piece of cloth. I get out of the water and inspect it, and it appears to be a pink scarf, just like the one Snivy wears. I decide to pick it up, but I realize I can't; I don't have arms, but instead front legs, which I need to walk and swim. I pick it up in my mouth instead, and dive back into the water.

Soon enough, I surface on the other side and climb onto land.

"Oh? Hey, that's a joy scarf!" Snivy says, pointing to the scarf in my mouth.

"A what?" I ask, dropping the scarf.

"A joy scarf, like the one I have." Snivy points to their own pink scarf. "Pokemon grow stronger as they battle and use moves. You did know that, right?"

"Actually, yeah, I did know that."

"Good, you should. Anyway, a joy scarf speeds up how fast you grow. It's super valuable for pokemon who have lots of room to grow, like us, so it's pretty lucky that you found one!"

"I guess so..." I'm not really interested in getting stronger as a pokemon. I want to leave this world as soon as possible. But then again, I might be here awhile, so getting stronger might be helpful. I wonder, how long am I gonna be stuck here?

Well, there's no reason not to wear it. I reach down to try and put it on, but again, I don't have fingers. I struggle with it for a bit before Snivy grabs it and ties it around my neck for me.

"I didn't ask for your help."

"You didn't ask for help when that Buizel was kicking your butt either, but you needed it."

I look away in frustration, then I hear a low grumble.

Snivy jumps at the noise and looks around. "What was that?"

"Um, I think that was my stomach," I reply.

"What?" Snivy says. We hear another grumble, this time from Snivy. "Oh. Well, like I said, this is why you don't go into a mystery dungeon unprepared," they say, grabbing the bag at their side. They open it up and pull out a pair of apples and a small picnic blanket.

Moments later, we're sitting down and having a snack. Eating is awkward without teeth, but I figure out that I can tear off small chunks and swallow them whole. "So Snivy, you seem to know a lot about mystery dungeons. How many have you been in?"

"This is my second."

"What? But then how do you know so much about them?"

"Well, a long time ago, a team of explorers stopped in the village I lived in. They were traveling the world, and just so happened to stop there to rest and restock supplies. When I heard they explored mystery dungeons, I was interested at first, so I asked them to tell me what it was like. The more I listened to their stories, the more interested I got. I asked them more questions about how mystery dungeons worked. That's when I decided I wanted to be a world famous explorer!

"They told me it would be difficult and dangerous, and that there was no guarantee of finding anything valuable, but I didn't care. I asked more questions, about what it would take to become an explorer." Snivy reached up and grabbed their scarf. "Eventually, they gave me this scarf, and said it would help if I was serious about becoming an explorer. They left my village the next day. I stayed at my home for a while after that, but eventually, I left. And so here I am now!

"I haven't actually explored many dungeons, but I'm getting the hang of it! And one day, I'll be the greatest explorer in the whole world..."

I finish my apple as Snivy finishes talking. "I didn't ask for your life story."

"Too bad!" Snivy says before finishing the rest of their apple in one bite. They're lucky; they have fingers AND teeth. "Alright, let's get moving." Snivy says, returning the picnic blanket to their bag. "We should be pretty close to the end now."


	4. Marine Cavern

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For people unfamiliar with pokemon, here is an image of the new pokemon that appears in this chapter:  
> [Electabuzz](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/thumb/d/de/125Electabuzz.png/600px-125Electabuzz.png)

Snivy and I are walking through the cave when a Buizel appears in front of us. It dashes forward to attack us, and we each dodge to the side. We turn to face it, and Snivy steps forward.

"Stand back Mudkip, I got this."

"My name is Jamie!" I shout as they run towards the Buizel. They're right though; I can't fight, and being a grass type, they can probably deal with a water type Buizel pretty easily. I sit back and begin to watch. I might be able to learn some stuff about fighting.

Both of them are pretty quick, so there's lots of dodging, with not many attacks landing. I see Snivy land the first hit, but then I'm suddenly struck from the side and sent rolling across the ground! I climb to my feet and turn around to see an Electabuzz glaring at me.

I get ready to fight, but it seems kinda odd; this dungeon has mostly water types, so an electric pokemon seems out of place, since electricity is dangerous to water type pokemon.

Wait.

I'M a water type pokemon!

I see sparks around the Electabuzz's head, and before I understand what's happening, a lighting bolt comes flying at me, striking me head on. The electricity painfully courses through me, and I drop to the ground, but I'm able to stand back up.

When the Electabuzz realizes one bolt wasn't enough, I see sparks around its head again. The moment I see the sparks, I realize I have to dodge. I jump to the side just in time to avoid another bolt, and I'm able to land on my feet this time.

The Electabuzz glares angrily at me, and its head begins sparking again. I once again dodge, but when I land, its head is still sparking! I hastily jump again, but although I dodge the next bolt, I mess up my landing and fall down when I hit the ground. I turn to face the Electabuzz and see it about to fire another bolt, when a vine strikes its chin from below, redirecting its bolt upwards.

Snivy wraps their vines around the Electabuzz and holds it in place. As I stand up, Snivy shouts to me.

"Attack it, now!"

I run towards the Electabuzz as fast as I can, and when I reach it, I jump and slam into its stomach with a headbutt, provoking a groan of pain from the Electabuzz! As I hit, Snivy releases their vines, and the Electabuzz stumbles backward. Taking advantage, Snivy runs towards the Electabuzz and... starts spinning? As Snivy spins, a tornado of leaves appears around their tail, and just as Electabuzz starts to recover, Snivy jumps up and slams the Electabuzz's face with their tail. The leaves in the tornado cut into Electabuzz, dealing more damage.

As the tornado dissipates, the Electabuzz wobbles on its feet, barely keeping its balance, before falling to the ground with a crash! A few seconds later, it evaporates into smoke, defeated.

I can't help but stare in amazement at Snivy for a second. "Whoa, what was that attack?"

Snivy smiles with pride. "Leaf Tornado. I picked it up from my siblings back when I was at home. Anyway, that was a pretty good tackle for your second fight. Keep at it and soon enough, you won't be completely helpless!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." I turn and start walking down the path, and I notice a bright blue light up ahead. "Hey, is that the end?" I say, pointing towards the light.

Snivy turns and sees the light. "Whoa! Yeah, it looks like it. Race you there!" Snivy says, running down the path.

"H-hey, wait up!" I say as I run after them.

I finally catch up to Snivy, and stop to catch my breath. They're looking up at the ceiling, and barely seem to notice me.

"Hey Mudkip, check this out!" they say.

I glare at them. "My name's not- Huh?" As I look up to face Snivy, I notice the blue light coming from above. I look at the ceiling of the cave to see it covered in blue crystals, glowing brightly in several shades of blue. It's beautiful, and I'm overcome with awe. "Wow..."

"Yup. This dungeon is called Marine Cavern. It's famous for these crystals."

"Are all mystery dungeons like this?"

"Nah, they're not all this pretty. But the ones that are make all the walking and fighting worth it. This sight makes getting shocked by an Electabuzz worthwhile, right?"

"Shut up," I say, giggling. I only now realize that I'm smiling like an idiot at the beauty above me. Snivy and I stare up at the crystals in silence for a while, and for the first time in the pokemon world, I feel like, despite my current situation, everything is going to be alright.

"So Snivy, this is why you explore mystery dungeons?" I ask.

"Oh, that's right! Well, this is definitely part of it. But really, it's everything! The danger, the beauty, and the feeling of discovery and, well, mystery! All of it is what makes me want to be an explorer! But, I'm also looking for a very special dungeon. There's a legend of a dungeon that can grant wishes! They say that if you go to the deepest place in the dungeon and make a wish, it will come true!"

"Really? That sounds pretty far fetched... Is there any proof that this special dungeon exists?"

"Nope! But I don't care. Most people don't believe it, and I get that; it sounds pretty unbelievable. But if no one looks for it, we'll never find out if it really is real! So that's my goal; I'll check every dungeon I come across to find the one that can grant wishes!"

"So you're going to check this dungeon now?"

"Yup!" Snivy takes a moment to clear their throat. "I wish... to become the world's most famous explorer!"

...Nothing happens.

"That's a pretty vague wish," I say.

"That's the thing I want most, so of course that'll be my wish! Still I'm not sure if it can grant those kinds of wishes, even if this is the right dungeon. So, I wish for a bag of gold coins!"

As Snivy speaks their wish, I'm completely amazed when I see that absolutely nothing happens.

"Well, I guess its not this one. C'mon, let's get out of here. At the deepest part of each mystery dungeon, there's a quick path back to the entrance." Snivy walks towards a tunnel leading upwards, and I follow.

"So, that wish-granting dungeon, do you think it could get me back to the human world?"

"You're still going on about that? And I don't know, it's a magical wish-granting dungeon that may or may not exist, I don't know the rules."

As we walk, I think about what I should do. That dungeon could be my ticket out of here, but there's also what Mew told me. "I need your help to save my world" they said.

"Hey, do you know anything about Mew?"

Snivy turns to look at me. "The guardian pokemon Mew? Not much. I've heard they watch over our world and protect it from destruction, but that's it. Why do you ask?"

"When I came to this world-" Snivy interrupts me with a groan. "Shut up. When I came to this world, I heard a voice calling themself Mew. They told me that their world was in danger, and that they needed my help to save it."

Snivy stares at me for a long while, then lets out a long sigh of disappointment. "So let me get this whole story straight: You're actually a human from another world, brought here by the guardian Mew. And Mew, the guardian of the world, needs your help, the help of someone who CAN'T EVEN FIGHT, to save the entire world. Is that about right?"

"Look, I get that this all sounds fake, but can you just tell me where I can find Mew and-"

"Find Mew? No one's ever even seen Mew for hundreds of years! Some people even doubt they exist! Honestly, you'd have a better chance finding the wish-dungeon than finding Mew," Snivy says, turning away as they keep walking.

I stop to think for a moment. Snivy looks back at me. "Hmm? What's up?"

I think for a moment longer, then look up at Snivy. "That's what I'll do then."

Snivy raises an eyebrow. "Wait, what?"

"I'm gonna search for the wish-dungeon with you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. Comments, questions, and criticisms are encouraged.


	5. Partners

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3/18/2020: A minor edit has been made to Snivy's dialogue at the start of the chapter.

"I'm gonna search for the wish-dungeon with you." I say to Snivy.

"What? Why?" Snivy says, shocked. "You didn't even know what a mystery dungeon was until today, and now you're saying you want to go into dungeon after dungeon for a CHANCE at a wish?! You got beaten up twice in that dungeon, you have no combat skills, and you're completely clueless about everything around you, including your own abilities! Heck, you were even skeptical of the wish-granting dungeon's existence back there! So... why?!"

"Well, it's not like I have anything better to do. I need to get back to the human world, and this is my only chance besides looking for Mew."

Snivy stares at me for a few seconds, realization dawning on their face. "Oh my gosh, you actually believe your own human story."

I sigh. "Look, it doesn't matter. The point is, I want to look for the wish-dungeon. You said yourself that it's safer to explore these dungeons with a partner, right? So, why don't we team up?"

Snivy looks down and thinks for a moment. "Um, well, to be honest... I was actually kinda hoping you'd stick around. It was easier to explore this dungeon than my first, even if you were mostly just a distraction in battle. And also... uh, never mind. But you have to pull your own weight and help out, got it?

"Well duh, of course I'm gonna help out. I want to find that dungeon just as much as you do."

"Perfect! Alright Mudkip, from this day forth, we shall be partners!"

"Call me Mudkip again and I might just reconsider."

"Oh, sorry about that Mudkip. Oh, whoops, I did it again~"

Snivy resumes walking up through the tunnel, and I follow. As annoying as Snivy is, I do still need to find that dungeon, and if the other mystery dungeons are as tough as this one, I'll unfortunately need Snivy's help, or I'll never get anywhere. As we walk, I start to see some sunlight at the end of the tunnel.

We finally exit the tunnel, and I find myself on a sunny beach. Snivy walks over to a rock near the cave entrance and pulls out a large bag that was hidden under it. They turn to me and say "Hey, come and help me set up camp."

"Camp? We don't have a place to stay?"

"Of course not, dummy! We're explorers! What, did you think I took my house with me when I went searching for the wish-dungeon?"

"Oh. Right."

"Don't worry; we'll get to a village soon that'll have real beds. But for now, come and help me with the tent."

I run over and help Snivy set up the tent. It's tough because I still don't have fingers, but I can still help by holding things in place for Snivy. Fortunately, the tent can fit two people. Or, pokemon, I guess. Or maybe it was made for one big pokemon? Anyways, we're both small enough to comfortably share the tent.

When we finish setting up the tent, it's around the late afternoon. We sit down to rest and have a drink. After a few minutes, Snivy gets up and starts walking towards an area away from the tent.

"Come over here, you need to practice battling."

"Battling? We're gonna... fight?"

"What, are you scared? It's just some sparring, pokemon do it all the time! What, do they not do that in the 'human world'?"

"Actually, no, most humans don't usually fight each other for no reason."

"Yeah? Well humans sound boring then! Anyway, since you've apparently been living under a rock until now, you need to get practice fighting. There are going to be wild pokemon in the other mystery dungeons, so if we're gonna be partners, you can't be dead weight, got it?"

They have a point; I do need to get stronger. "Alright, but are you sure we won't get injured?" I ask, getting up and walking to where Snivy is.

"Unless you're made of paper, you'll be fine. It's not like we'll be seriously trying to hurt each other. And we're on sand, so it'll be softer than back in the dungeon if you fall."

"Okay, if you say so."

"Good! Now, on three. One... Two... Three!"

As we sparred I got some practice moving and dodging, but I couldn't land a hit. I got hit often, but Snivy didn't hit hard, and they never used grass attacks. After five minutes, we took a short break.

"Hey, why are you just trying to tackle me? You know you have other moves, right?" Snivy says, demonstrating by waving a vine around.

"Yeah, but I don't know how to do any of that."

"Oh, come on, it's easy! Just try! It's not like there's some secret instruction manual for it! Just, I don't know, try shooting water from your mouth."

Oh yes, 'just try'. Brilliant advice. Still, I might as well try. I turn away from Snivy and face the ocean. I imagine myself using a water gun attack, open my mouth, and I suddenly feel something happen at the back of my mouth. It catches me off guard, and I end up just spitting water on the ground.

I hear Snivy groan behind me. "Shut up, it was my first try!" Hmph. I bet their first steps as a baby weren't much better.

I try again, this time ready for that feeling in my mouth. Once I feel it, I try to blow it out of my mouth, and to my surprise, it works! A blast of water flies out of my mouth, traveling a short distance before falling to the ground. I stand and stare at what I've just done. It's funny; sometimes back in the human world, I would mess around with the bathroom sink, sucking up water and spraying it back into the sink, trying to mimic a pokemon using water gun. Looks like all my practice finally paid off...

"Finally! See, I told you it was easy!" Snivy says. "Alright, now try to hit me with it!"

We resumed sparring. It's difficult to use water gun while fighting at first, but I start to get the hang of it. I get a few hits in, partly thanks to water gun, but I still get hit a lot more often. Luckily, it doesn't hurt too much; pokemon are born to fight, after all, and Snivy isn't trying to hurt me.

After 20 more minutes of sparring with a couple breaks mixed in, I'm too exhausted to keep going, so we call it quits. I have a few bruises, but nothing too bad. Snivy isn't as tired as me, being more used to fighting. We rest awhile, then go back to the camp site and have a meal of fruits and berries.

During the meal, Snivy checks the bag holding their food. "Hmm, I didn't pack for two people. We might need to gather some extra food before we reach the village." Snivy puts down the bag and... smiles?

"Hm? What are you smiling about? Is gathering food fun or something?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, it's nothing. And no, gathering food isn't fun, unfortunately. It's kind of annoying."

Huh. Weird.

By the time we finish our meal, the sun is starting to set, so we head inside the tent to sleep. Luckily, Snivy packed an extra sleeping bag.

"So Snivy, what are we doing tomorrow?"

"Heading towards Amari Village, where we'll look for info on the nearby mystery dungeons, and ask if anyone knows anything about the wish-granting dungeon. I was also planning on staying there awhile; even if we can't afford an inn, it's safer and more convenient to camp close to civilization."

"Okay, sounds good. And what about food? Will we get some from the village?"

"If we get some money, sure, but I'm currently broke, so probably not. The village is in a forest, so we should be able to find plenty of berries and stuff nearby and on the way."

Well, this isn't good. I never wanted to live this kind of life, setting up a tent every night and gathering my own food. I really need to get back to the human world. It's so much better there; I have a house, and a bed, and a fridge. It's not perfect, but it's better than this. "Okay," I say, laying down and getting ready to sleep. "Goodnight Snivy."

"Goodnight Mudkip."

I sigh. "My name is Jamie."

No response.

It takes awhile to get into a comfortable sleeping position. I end up just laying on my stomach, with my chin on my pillow. It's unfamiliar and weird, but it'll have to do. I shift between thinking about the human world and my current situation until I eventually fall asleep...


	6. Ambipom's Job

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For people unfamiliar with pokemon, here are images of the new pokemon that appear in this chapter:  
> [Ambipom](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/thumb/8/86/424Ambipom.png/600px-424Ambipom.png)  
> [Cubone](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/thumb/2/2a/104Cubone.png/600px-104Cubone.png)  
> [Drilbur](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/thumb/c/cf/529Drilbur.png/600px-529Drilbur.png)

I'm laying in a bed, just having woken up. I feel weird and uncomfortable. I try to roll into a more comfy position, and I realize something is very wrong with my body! I open my eyes and look down at myself-

Oh. Right.

I'm a Mudkip now.

After taking a moment to recall what happened, I get up and look at Snivy's bed to find it empty. I walk outside and find them eating breakfast. They notice me, turning to greet me with a smile.

"Good morning Mudkip! How are you doing?"

"My name is Jamie, not Mudkip."

"Glad to hear you're doing fine! Grab some breakfast, then we'll pack up the tent and get moving."

I sigh. If I could have anyone else as my partner, I would. I walk over to the bag to get some food. It looks like it's all fruits and berries Snivy gathered themself while traveling. There isn't a lot left, but we at least have enough for today. After breakfast, Snivy and I pack the tent away into a relatively big backpack, which also holds some other stuff. We decide that I'll carry the backpack while Snivy carries most of the other bags. The backpack is pretty light, which makes sense; Snivy had to carry it and everything else all on their own before.

After leaving the beach, we walk along a dirt road with Snivy leading the way. After some time, I see an Ambipom up ahead. As we approach, they notice us and start walking towards us.

"Hello there, travelers! I'm Ambipom, and I'm looking for explorers. Would you two happen to be explorers?"

Snivy speaks up. "Yes, we are! I'm Snivy, and this is Mudkip." I think about correcting them, but Ambipom starts responding and I lose my chance.

"Well, I'm a collector of rare stones. I've learned that there is an especially rare stone in a mystery dungeon nearby. But, I'm no explorer, so I'd like to hire you two to fetch that stone for me."

"Hire us?" Snivy questions.

"Yes, yes, I can pay you! A hobby like mine can be rather expensive, but also rather lucrative at times, you see. I'm offering 300 coins for the stone."

"Hmm... Oh, wait a sec. We're looking for a mystery dungeon that can grant wishes. Would you happen to know anything about that?"

"A wish-granting dungeon? Oh, I think I've heard a story about that..." Ambipom thinks to themself for a moment. "Ah yes, I remember now! Hmm... Alright! I know the name of the dungeon, and I'll tell you if you complete my job. In addition to the monetary payment, of course!"

"Hey, that'd be pretty helpful! Well we can't say no now! What do you say, partner? Any objections?" Snivy says, turning to me.

"Sounds good. We were already planning on exploring every mystery dungeon we came across, so this is a nice bonus."

"Wonderful!" Ambipom says. "The dungeon that holds the stone is called Twisting Tunnel. Follow me to the entrance."

After a few minutes of walking, we arrive at the mouth of a cave. The entrance leads deep down into a dirt tunnel. Oddly, it doesn't seem to get dark inside, despite how deep it appears to go.

"This is the Twisting Tunnel," says Ambipom. "I'm looking for a stone called a Striped Sun. It's perfectly round and smooth, colored a lovely yellow, with stripes of orange and red! Ah, it is truly an object of beauty... Um, anyway, you should find it in the deepest part of the dungeon. Fetch it, and you'll have your reward!"

"Alright then!" Snivy says, setting down the bags they were carrying. "Ready to go in?"

"Yeah." I put the backpack holding our tent with the other bags and follow Snivy into the dungeon.

As we go deeper, we start to see some odd holes in the ground and on the walls. We try looking into them, but they're pitch black inside. It would make sense, since there's no light here, but I start to wonder why we can still see. "Hey Snivy, there's no sunlight in here, and I don't see any other light sources. How are we able to see down here?"

"Oh, uh... I'm not sure." Snivy pauses and looks around. "Oh, I have an idea!" Snivy stops and picks up some of the dirt, closing their hands around it. They look into the space, then pull away.

"I've got it! It's this dirt, it's glowing!"

"Really?"

"Yeah! Maybe mystery dungeons might have a way of making things glow, like the crystals back in Marine Cavern."

"Huh. That's convenient. But wait, what about these holes? They're dark, but they're made of this same dirt, right?"

"Yeah, that's weird... Maybe they're-"

Snivy stops at by the sound of footsteps running towards us from up ahead. We turn to see a Cubone and a Drilbur approaching us. Before I can react, the Cubone jumps towards me and hits me on the head with its bone club. It winds up for another swing, but I duck under it, then jump backwards in time to dodge its next swing. The Cubone is off balance after its missed swing, so I dash forward and land a tackle, knocking it back! It feels like my training with Snivy was pretty effective.

The Cubone gets up, and we pause for a brief moment, each waiting for the other to make a move. Suddenly, I feel the ground rumble beneath me, and I look down just in time to see the Drilbur pop out of the ground and strike me from below! I'm knocked to the ground, and I see Cubone rushing over to attack me, but it's suddenly grabbed by Snivy's vines and dragged away.

I get up and turn my attention to the Drilbur. It runs forward and swipes its claws at me, but I dodge to the side and counter with a headbutt. The Drilbur staggers a bit, but recovers and jumps into the air while spinning, digging underground when it lands. I realize its trying to hit me from below again, and I hold still, waiting.

Sure enough, I feel a small rumbling underneath me, and the moment I do, I jump to the side just in time to avoid the Drilbur's strike! I turn to face it and prepare myself. The Drilbur jumps towards me to attack, and when it does, I open my mouth and blast it with a water gun!

The Drilbur gets caught completely off guard, and it's a perfect hit! It's sent rolling backward before coming to a stop on the ground, evaporating into smoke a moment later.

"Nice!" I hear Snivy say, and I turn to face them. "That was a good move right there. You're doing much better than yesterday."

"Yeah, that training was really helpful." I've gotten a lot more used to moving around in this body since then, too. "Thanks for saving me from that Cubone. You know, these wild pokemon don't seem to be very good at fighting. I just learned to fight yesterday, and I beat that Drilbur no problem."

"Yeah, wild pokemon tend to be pretty dumb. I don't think they do any training, and even if they do, they probably can't learn anything from it. But I have heard that some wild pokemon are smarter, though, and better at fighting."

"Huh. Well, lets move on," I say, walking deeper into the dungeon.

"Right!"

As we walk on, I rub the sore spot on my head where the Cubone whacked me. Battling hurts, but its pretty cool to be able to finally have pokemon battles. I never had the chance back in the human world. I never wanted to get to get this close to the action, though. At least using water gun is as cool as I imagined it.


	7. Treasure

A few minutes into our walk through the dungeon, Snivy stops us. "Hey Mudkip, look at that!" they say, pointing at a dirt wall that leads up to an elevated platform.

I groan as I follow their gaze. "My name is Jamie. Huh?" On the elevated platform, I spot... something. "What's that?"

"I'm pretty sure it's a treasure chest!" Snivy says.

It's tough to tell from the angle, but I guess it could be some kind of treasure chest. "There are treasure chests in mystery dungeons?"

"Yeah. They usually hold a bunch of random stuff that can appear in the dungeon, like berries or scarves. We should try to get it!"

"Well, yeah, but..." I look at the wall before us. It's way too steep to climb, and definitely too high to jump over. "How do we get to it?"

Snivy opens their mouth to speak, then closes it again and thinks for a moment. "Oh! Look up there, at the ceiling above the chest!" I look and notice one of the dark holes that have littered the dungeon so far. "Maybe if we climb through a hole down here, it'll lead up to the chest!"

I look around and see plenty of the same holes around the room, and a good number of them are on the ground, or low enough on the walls for us to climb into. Still... "Are you sure these holes are safe to climb into?"

"Of course not, silly! We don't know where they'll lead to until we go in. That's what exploring is all about!"

Amazing; I'm partners with an idiot. Snivy runs over to a hole on the wall, and I follow to watch what happens. The hole is dark, unlike the rest of the glowing dirt in the dungeon. There must be something special about them... Snivy crawls in and disappears into the darkness.

A few seconds later, I hear Snivy scream and their voice gets more distant; they're falling! Then I hear their voice... behind me? I turn around just in time to see Snivy fall down in front of me from above.

"W-whoa! Are you okay?" I ask, equal amounts surprised and concerned.

"Huh? Wait, Mudkip? How are you down here? Wait..." Snivy takes a moment to look around the room. "I'm back here? But I fell down!" Snivy looks up, and I notice a familiar dark hole right above them. Did they drop from it? "Wait a second..." Snivy runs over to the hole on the wall they just went through. They reach a vine into the hole, then turn around to look at the hole in the ceiling. Sure enough, a few seconds later, Snivy's vine emerges from the hole. I turn back to Snivy and see their eyes light up.

"Wow wow wow wow wow! Mudkip, this is incredible!" Snivy retracts their vine, then runs over to me and grabs me by the shoulders. "When I was in that hole, I only moved a little ways, but I fell down through that hole all the way up there! Do you know what this means?!" Snivy shakes me in excitement as they talk.

I'm a bit too shaken up to see what Snivy's getting at. "Um, no? What does it mean?"

"It means these holes can TELEPORT STUFF!!"

I pause and think for a moment. Huh, yeah, that explains what's happened so far. Wait, WHAT?! "Wait, what do you mean they can teleport stuff? How does that even work?!"

Snivy pauses, surprised, then laughs. "How does it work? Well, they aren't called 'mystery dungeons' for nothing. If we knew how everything worked, it wouldn't be any fun! But more importantly, do you know what we can do now?"

Huh..? "Oh! One of these holes probably leads up to that treasure chest!"

"Bingo! We just need to find which one leads to the hole up there."

Snivy and I get to work searching the holes. I approach a hole on the floor and wonder how to test where it goes. I could jump in, but unlike Snivy, I value my own safety. I try spraying some water into the hole, and I see water splash out of a hole on the wall a few meters away. I run over to a different hole on the wall and shoot a water gun into it. Immediately I hear a yelp in sync with water splashing! I turn around to see an unamused Snivy staring at me, their face dripping water.

I try to hold back my laughter, and I fail. I hadn't realized that this could happen if I checked the holes with water gun, but it's so obvious now! Snivy's unamused start turns to a glare as I laugh. I manage to partly calm my laughter. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to laugh, I just-"

"No, no, it's fine. Laugh all you want," Snivy says, their frown turning to a sly smile. I'm confused for a moment before I feet something start tickling my side. I start to giggle and I turn to see a vine coming from the hole.

Before I can get away, the vine pushes me over and starts ticking my belly! I can't get up, nor can I stop laughing! This goes on for about 10 seconds before Snivy stops and retracts their vine.

"And that's your punishment!" Snivy says, smiling at me from across the room.

"Sheesh, I said I was sorry," I say, but I'm not mad. In fact, I'm still smiling. It was only fair, after all, and it was a creative way of getting back at me. We both get back to checking the holes, and soon enough, Snivy calls out to me.

"Hey, I found it!" they say, pointing up to the hole above the treasure chest. Sure enough, a vine is poking out from the hole, waving about.

"Great!" I run over to Snivy. "So, what, are you gonna grab the chest with your vine?"

"Nope, I can't reach far enough. Hmm... Maybe I can lower you down from here, and you'll only need to drop a little bit."

"Yeah, that'll work."

Snivy wraps two vines around me, and I climb into the hole. Once the hole starts leading down, Snivy slowly lowers me down out of the hole. I come out and I can see the treasure from above. Soon, Snivy stops lowering me.

"This is as far as I can reach!" they shout to me from down below.

I look down, and it doesn't look too far to the ground. "Okay, you can drop me," I say. The vines release me, and I drop onto the elevated platform unharmed. I walk over to the chest. It isn't locked, but it takes some effort to open it without proper hands. I look inside and see a collection of berries and other fruits.

We decide to have me toss our loot down to Snivy one piece at a time. Soon enough, all our berries and fruits are in a pile down on the lower floor, with the exception of a splatted pecha berry that Snivy couldn't quite catch. Snivy and I cheer at our successful mission, but as we get ready to move on, I suddenly realize.

"Uh, Snivy? How do I get down?"

"Oh, um... huh." The drop from the platform is too high to be safe, and Snivy can't reach me down here from the hole. There's no other holes up here, so there doesn't seem to be any way to get down.

"Just jump down!" Snivy says. "I'll catch you, I promise!"

Well, that is an option, I guess. "Are you sure you can catch me?"

"Of course! Just trust me!" Snivy says, giving a reassuring smile.

"Well, okay." I pause and take a deep breath. Pokemon bodies seem pretty durable. I can probably survive a fall from this height, but I could get hurt pretty bad... Still, I don't have any other options. "On three," I say. "Ready?" Snivy nods. "One... Two...

"Three!" I jump off, and I suddenly feel like I'm moving in slow motion. I see Snivy's vines stretch out below, ready to catch me. I fall into them perfectly. They slow my fall, but not enough, and I see Snivy's expression turn to panic moments before I fall onto them.

Next thing I know, I'm laying on top of Snivy, surprisingly unharmed. Apparently they were soft enough to cushion my fall. I hear them groan in pain, and I get off as quick as I can. "Are you okay?" I ask.

"Ow... yeah, just pain..." Snivy gets up and checks their body for injuries. They turn to me and give a pained smile. "See? I promised I'd catch you."

I sigh, relieved. "You sure did. Need an oran berry?"

"Yeah, thanks."

We stop for a while and have a snack break, since we were both getting hungry. The fruits from the chest are surprisingly tasty for having spontaneously materialized in a dungeon. After we finish, we pack away the rest of our loot in the bag and continue on.

Lesson learned: Always have an escape plan.


	8. The Steelix

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For people unfamiliar with pokemon, here is an image of [Steelix.](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/thumb/b/ba/208Steelix.png/600px-208Steelix.png) (I would put an image of Sandshrew, but it isn't important at all.)
> 
> Also, take a shot every time the word "hole" appears in this chapter.

I blast the enemy Sandshrew with a water gun and send it flying backwards. It evaporates into smoke, and I relax.

"You're getting better at this," Snivy says, already having finished off the other wild pokemon. "Battling is pretty fun, right?"

"Well, I guess it kinda is." It certainly feels better to not be helpless anymore. It helps that all the pokemon we've fought here are ground type, so it's pretty easy for me and Snivy to deal with them. And I do have to admit, it is kinda fun to finally have a pokemon battle, even if this isn't quite what I was hoping for.

"C'mon, it shouldn't be much further to the end, then we can get that stone, and then get the name of the wish-dungeon!" Snivy says, running ahead.

I run after them into a corridor that goes on for a while before leading into another room. I watch Snivy enter the room, but before I can enter, I see something tackle into Snivy from the side, knocking them back and out of my view.

"Snivy!" I run as fast as I can and get inside the room to find Snivy cornered by a giant Steelix! Snivy strikes at the Steelix with their vines, but that doesn't seem to do much. The Steelix whacks Snivy back with its tail, knocking them into the corner.

The Steelix moves in to attack Snivy again, and I open my mouth and blast it with a water gun. My attack seems to work, and the Steelix flinches turns its attention to me. It prepares to lunge, and I get ready to dodge out of the way of its attack.

It lunges!... upwards? The Steelix jumps up and dives into a hole in the wall. A dark hole. Before I realize what's happening, I'm struck from behind by Steelix's hard metal head and sent tumbling forwards, landing next to Snivy.

Snivy helps me up, and we turn around to see the Steelix glaring at us. It picks up a rock with its tail, and we get ready to dodge. The Steelix throws the rock towards the cave wall behind it, into another hole. I react faster than last time and tackle Snivy out of the way just before a rock falls from the ceiling!

"It's using the teleporting holes!" I say to Snivy.

"Seriously? How does it even know how to do that?"

The Steelix dives into a hole on the floor, and I immediately jump away from the wall I was next to. Unfortunately, Steelix emerged from the other wall that made up the corner we were in, and I'm smacked away by its tail and sent flying into the opposite wall! I get up to see Snivy slam the Steelix in the face with a leaf tornado attack, but the Steelix shrugs it off and takes advantage of the opening to wrap Snivy in its tail and begin to crush them like a boa constrictor.

I try to hit it with another water gun, but the Steelix is ready for it, and unleashes a red beam from its mouth that tears through my attack and hits me! Its using Dragon Breath to counter my water gun, I realize. I recover from the hit and look back at the Steelix. It's staring it me, daring me to try again, all the while I can hear Snivy crying out in pain.

I desperately try to come up with some kind of plan... and I remember the holes. I turn around and see the hole that Steelix threw a rock into. I dive into it, and I start to fall. I look below me and see Steelix, still looking at where I was. It doesn't seem to realize I can use the holes too. As I fall, I blast a water gun at Steelix's head! Steelix cries out in a mix of surprise and pain, dropping Snivy in the process.

I land pretty rough, but I get up and manage to fire off another water gun at Steelix just before it can land another hit on us. The Steelix dives into the hole in the corner and retreats to the opposite side of the room. I turn to Snivy and see them barely conscious. I grab an oran berry from the bag at Snivy's waist and shove it into their mouth.

Snivy opens their eyes. "Mu- Mudkip..? What-"

"Wake up, we're fighting!"

"Uh, r-right!"

We turn to see Steelix glaring angrily at us. It picks up another rock and throws it into the hole in the floor. Before I can react, Snivy grabs me and pulls me backward just in time to avoid being struck by the rock from behind. I take a moment to look at the holes in the room. Steelix already used a lot of them, so I can start to put together a mental map of how they connect...

The Steelix dives into a hole in the wall behind it. "Above!" I shout, and Snivy and I dive out of the way just in time as Steelix crashes down from the ceiling! It swings at me with its tail, and although I jump to avoid it, it still hits my legs and knocks me into the corner. Before it can follow up, Snivy hits it with a leaf tornado from behind, staggering it.

Steelix turns its attention to Snivy, and Snivy runs away to the other side of the room, with Steelix following close behind. Suddenly, I come up with a plan. I run into the hole in the wall behind me and look up. I'm in the hole in the floor on the other side of the room, and I see Steelix above me. I wait for the right moment, and when Steelix's tail is right above the hole, I blast it with a water gun! I hear a cry of surprise from Steelix as I run back out of the hole.

After coming back out of the hole, I move to the side, out of view from anyone looking through the hole. I watch Steelix dive into the hole in the floor, and when it pops out next to me, it looks around, not realizing I'm right behind it. I hit it with another water gun, and I realize Steelix's cries seem more painful now. I try to run away again, but Steelix is still covering the hole in the wall, and there aren't any other holes nearby.

Steelix is too fast, and before I can get away, it grabs me with its tail and starts crushing me! It turns to look at Snivy, and when I follow its gaze, I see... nothing? Suddenly, I hear a shout from above, and turn to see Snivy jumping from the hole in the wall that Steelix used when I first entered the room to hit me! Snivy slams Steelix's face with another leaf tornado, and Steelix falls to the ground with a crash!

I feel the grip of Steelix's tail loosen around me before it begins to evaporate. I breathe a sigh of relief and collapse on the ground, exhausted. Snivy joins me in taking a nap on the ground, and we lay there, catching our breath. Using water gun takes some effort, and I used it a lot during the fight. It's probably the same for Snivy and their leaf tornado.

"Thanks for saving me back there, partner," Snivy says, still breathing heavily. "That was a pretty gutsy trick you pulled, falling from the ceiling like that."

"Thank you, too. You saved me twice back there."

Snivy smiles. "Three times, Mudkip."

"Shut up, I saved you like four times."

Snivy giggles. "Oh yeah. So that means you still owe me one, since I saved you twice back in Marine Cavern."

I grumble at Snivy's annoyingness. After a few minutes of resting and an oran berry for me, we get up and resume walking through the dungeon.

"So, Ambipom said that the stone would be at the deepest part of the dungeon. How did they know that? Didn't you say mystery dungeons change their layout over time?"

"Yeah, they do, but the deepest part is special. The deepest part of a dungeon is always the same, and there tends to be some amazing stuff down there, like those crystals in Marine Cavern."

Oh. Neat! We keep walking and start to notice some of the dirt glowing brighter than the rest. It's slight at first, but as we move on, the glow forms a spiral pattern going around the tunnel. We start to walk faster, then run, and soon enough, we arrive in a tall room. The glowing spiral circles around the rooms walls before stopping in the center of the floor, and at the center of the spiral is a small, perfectly round stone, yellow in color and striped with orange and red.

"The Striped Sun!" I run towards it, and Snivy follows. It's super smooth, and it's shape is an unnaturally perfect sphere. The colors are beautiful, just like Ambipom said. No wonder they're willing to pay so much for it.

Snivy puts the stone in our bag, then makes a wish to check if this might be the wish-granting dungeon. Nothing happens, so we move on the exit.

We head into a side path that leads upwards, just like the one in Marine Cavern. As we walk, I start to wonder. "So, this path leads straight from the end of the dungeon to the entrance, right?"

"Yep."

"So why didn't we just take this path down in the first place?"

"Because it didn't exist then."

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?"

Snivy giggles. "Well, mystery dungeons are always shifting. Heck, if we were to turn back now, we'd come out into the main part of the dungeon before getting back to the bottom. I don't know how it works, but basically, this path can only go outward, not deeper in."

"Huh. Mystery dungeons are weird."

"I know, right? It's awesome!"

A few minutes later, and we start to see light. "Race ya!" Snivy says as they run towards it. I smile and chase after them. Moments later, we exit the dungeon and step outside into daylight.


	9. Wildfire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For people unfamiliar with pokemon, here is an image of [Krokorok,](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/thumb/d/d4/552Krokorok.png/600px-552Krokorok.png) the new pokemon in this chapter.

"Yes yes YES!!" Ambipom says as we present the stone. "This is the Striped Sun! Oh my, it's just as beautiful as I'd heard!" Ambipom spends about a minute admiring it and mumbling to themself about how perfect it is. Eventually, they clear their throat and turn to us. "Thank you, young explorers. As promised, here is your reward."

Ambipom hands us a moderately large bag, and I can hear the coins clinking inside it. Snivy and I look inside and see it filled with gold coins!

"Wow," Snivy says, "I don't think I've ever seen this much money in one place before!"

"Whoa, is 300 coins really that much?" I ask.

"Nah, not really. I mean, it is a lot, it's just that I grew up in a pretty small village, so it's weird seeing a big bag full of money like this."

"Well," Ambipom says, "you could make much more money than this as an explorer. Some explorers make enough money to fill a swimming pool full of coins!"

"Yeah, I guess so, but I don't see how that would help me," Snivy says.

"Oh, of course not. A pool of coins would be quite uncomfortable."

"No, I mean the money. I mean, having money for an inn and food is nice, but beyond that, I don't really see what even more money can do for me. I just wanna explore."

"Ah, I see. It's good to see you have your priorities in order! Well, it's been a pleasure doing business with you two. Good day!"

"Wait! What do you know about the wish-granting dungeon?"

"Oh, right! I'd forgotten about that. Well, I've heard a story about a dungeon that grants wishes. You've probably already heard this part, but the legend says that if you go to the deepest part of the dungeon and speak a wish, it will be granted. Now here's the useful part; the dungeon is called 'Volomans'."

"'Volomans'? That's great! Someone might have heard about Volomans even if they haven't heard about it granting wishes. Do you have any other info?"

"Sorry to say, but I don't. But I assume knowing the name of what you're looking for is helpful?"

"Yeah, very helpful! Thanks!"

"Alright then, goodbye, explorers!" With that, Ambipom walks away down the road.

"Lets go, Amari Village should be this way," Snivy says, walking down the road in the opposite direction. I follow.

A few minutes into walking, I'm lost in thought, and not paying attention to my surroundings. It takes me a while to hear the faint footsteps behind me, and just as I notice them, I'm suddenly struck from behind and sent tumbling forwards! This seems to happen to me a lot in this world.

"Huh?!" I hear Snivy say, followed by an impact and a cry of pain before I hear them fall to the ground. I get up and turn around to see a Krokorok standing before me, looking between me and Snivy with a glare.

"Hand over your money, and no one gets hurt!" they shout. Uh oh. I look to Snivy, possibly expecting to see them angry and ready to fight, or at least hoping to get some idea of what they think we should do. Instead, they look back to me, just as panicked and confused as I am.

"Hey! I said hand it over, quick!" The Krokorok steps towards Snivy, still on the ground and surrounded by the bags they were carrying.

I realize Krokorok is a ground type, so we should be able to beat them. I open my mouth and blast them with a water gun! They're caught off guard and staggered. Snivy takes advantage of the distraction to get up and lash at Krokorok with a vine whip, but Krokorok reacts quickly and dodges back. They dash forwards towards Snivy and try to land a bite, but Snivy dodges to the side, but just as Snivy is about to counter, they're struck by Krokorok's tail and knocked back!

I run over and fire another water gun, but they jump over it and towards me. They try to punch me as they land, but I dodge backward. The moment I do, however, Krokorok lunges forward and catches me in a bite, digging into me with their teeth before throwing me to the ground.

They turn their attention to Snivy just in time to avoid another vine whip. They each throw out a few attacks, but neither of them can land a hit until Snivy catches Krokorok's leg with a vine, pulling it out from under them and making them fall to the ground! Snivy jumps into the air and spins to prepare a leaf tornado, but Krokorok opens their mouth...

And a stream of glowing red fire hits Snivy dead-on.

Snivy falls to the ground, groaning in pain. Krokorok gets up and turns their attention to me, and I quickly get up and fire another water gun. Krokorok dodges easily, and runs toward me. They wind up for a punch, and I decide I have to try something unexpected. Just as they approach, I jump forward and land a tackle right into Krokorok's stomach!

Krokorok grunts in pain, but just as I land from my jump right next to Krokorok's legs, they land a kick, and I'm knocked away. Just as I get up, I'm blasted with a flamethrower attack. It doesn't hurt too much, but before I can recover, Krokorok runs over and lands a hard punch that sends me rolling across the ground. After all that, I just don't have the energy to get up again.

"Stupid idiots," Krokorok mutters to themself, walking over to our scattered bags. "All they had to do was just give me the- ah, finally. Ugh, what is this, 400 coins? No, not even. Dang it. I really need to..." Krokorok's voice fades as they walk away with our money. Strangely, they ignore our other bags that have our food and such.

"...hey Mudkip, are you okay?" Snivy asks.

"Maybe... I don't know. You?"

"Same..."

Eventually, I'm able to get up and grab a pair of oran berries. We have plenty thanks to the treasure chest we found.

"What the heck was that?!" Snivy says after we've recovered. "That pokemon didn't look like a fire type!"

"Yeah, that was a Krokorok. I was pretty sure they can't use fire type moves."

"Hmph, that's not fair. You know, for being so ignorant and inexperienced, you sure seem to know a lot about different kinds of pokemon."

I groan. "I've been in this world, and this body, for two days. Of course I'm inexperienced! And I know about pokemon because I learned about them in the human world!" I was really interested in pokemon back then. I wanted to do something with pokemon when I grew up. Of course, everyone says they want to be a trainer, but I was also thinking about being a professor, or a breeder, so I learned as much as I could about pokemon.

"Right," Snivy says, "because you think you're actually a human brought here by Mew to save the world." Snivy sighs. "You know Mudkip, we should probably get you to a doctor or a psychic or something to get that memory issue checked out."

Okay, that's enough. "I don't have any memory issues! I remember my life in the human world perfectly, my parents, my friends, my school, I remember everything! And for the last time, MY NAME IS-"

Suddenly, a bright light flashes right next to us, accompanied by a strange, mystical sound! We turn to face it, and see a glowing pink screen hovering in the air. On it, we see glowing red flames surrounding a small figure. The figure moves closer to the screen, and it looks like... Mew?!

"You are Jamie, right?" the figure asks, and when I hear their voice, I'm sure it's Mew.

I'm stunned for a second, shocked by Mew's sudden and strange entrance. After a moment, Mew's question registers. "Uh, yes! I'm Jamie!"

Mew speaks much faster than they did when I first heard them. "Jamie, the Krokorok you just fought was infected with a dangerous power called the Wildfire. It corrupts one's desires and grants them immense power. I need your help to stop it before it spreads throughout the world!"

"Wait a second, how can I get back to the human world?"

"I can only send you back once the Wildfire has been cured. You must go to Volomans, the source of the Wildfire, and stop it, then I can return you home." The fire around Mew grows more intense, and they flinch in pain. "I'm out of time. Please, help!"

Just as Mew finishes talking, the screen vanishes, leaving me and Snivy standing in silence.

We both wait awhile, processing what we just heard.

"So, um, I guess you really are a human," Snivy says sheepishly.

I turn towards Snivy, and I can't help but give a smug grin. "Yep. And why am I here in this world?"

Snivy sighs, defeated. "Because Mew brought you here to save the world. But, I guess we're still headed to Volomans, right?"

"Oh, right! Too bad Mew didn't tell us where it is."

"That's because you interrupted them, dummy."

"Oh. Right... Oops. But, uh, anyway, now you have to call me by my name!"

"Nope, you're still Mudkip."

"What?! Why?"

"Because you're a Mudkip, silly! I'm a Snivy, so my name is Snivy. That's how names work. You might have been a human before, but now you're a Mudkip, so your name is Mudkip!"

"Whatever... Oh! Mew said that Volomans is the source of the Wildfire, right? And they said that Krokorok has the Wildfire, so maybe they know something about Volomans!"

"Whoa, you're right! We have a major lead on the wish-dungeon now! Alright, let's head to Amari Village, then we can work on tracking down that Krokorok!"

We gather up our scattered bags and continue on towards the village.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For people unfamiliar with pokemon, here is an image of [Mew,](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/thumb/b/b1/151Mew.png/600px-151Mew.png) the other new pokemon in this chapter. I didn't put this at the start because I wanted Mew's entrance to be unexpected. Sorry for any inconvenience.


	10. Amari Village

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For people unfamiliar with pokemon, here are images of the new pokemon that appear in this chapter:  
> [Machop](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/thumb/8/85/066Machop.png/600px-066Machop.png)  
> [Torterra](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/thumb/d/df/389Torterra.png/600px-389Torterra.png)  
> [Audino](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/thumb/f/f5/531Audino.png/600px-531Audino.png)

It's the evening, and Snivy and I are walking down the road to Amari Village.

"So Mudkip," Snivy begins.

"No." I say before they can continue.

"Sheesh, you really need to let go of this whole name thing. You're not a human anymore, so just get over it!"

"I AM still a human! I'm just trapped in a pokemon body."

"Of course Mudkip."

"Jamie."

"Anyway, I was wondering, what do you think the 'Wildfire' that Mew mentioned is? I guess it's why that Krokorok was able to use fire, but what actually is it?"

"I don't know," I say. I'm still mad, but this is actually an interesting question. "Mew said Krokorok was 'infected' with the Wildfire, but also that it grants power? I can't tell if it's a disease or a blessing."

"Oh yeah. Mew also said something like 'it corrupts one's desires' or something. Maybe it's like a curse that turns you evil and gives you superpowers?"

"Krokorok did attack us, so that sounds right. The word 'infected' makes it sound like it can spread from person to person, like a virus. Do you think it might turn the whole world evil?"

"That must be why Mew wants to stop it! But why do they need you? Maybe humans are immune to it?"

"So you admit that I'm still a human?"

"Wait no! Uh, hey, who's that over there?" Snivy says, completely ruining my moment. Sure enough, there's a Machop running down the road towards us. They call out and wave to us with a smile on their face.

In a few seconds, the Machop reaches us. "Hi! Are you two heading to Amari Village?"

"Yeah!" Snivy says. "I'm Snivy, and this is-"

"Jamie," I interrupt.

"Jamie? But you're a Mudkip," says Machop.

"They want their name to be Jamie. Their real name is Mudkip," Snivy says, and I'm just about ready to explode.

"Oh, so you want to be called Jamie?" Machop asks me.

"Uh, yeah," I reply.

"Okay. I'm Machop. I'll take you to the village. Snivy, Jamie, follow me!" Machop says. I turn to see Snivy looking confused. They turn to face me, and I smile smugly at them. I don't think I've ever felt more satisfied than having Snivy insist that my name is Mudkip for two whole days, only to have some random pokemon call me by my real name five seconds after we've met with no argument.

We follow Machop down the road into a forest. Soon, we reach a small village. There are wooden buildings around which at first seem very big, but then I remember how much smaller I am as a Mudkip. Two buildings that are bigger than the others stick out. The first looks like an inn. Machop guides us to the second one, a large house that they say belongs to the village Elder.

The Elder's house doesn't look any more decorated than the other houses around the village, but it's much larger, with a door that towers over me and Snivy. It looks huge, even by human standards! 

"This is Elder Torterra's house," Machop says. "Visitors are supposed to meet with Torterra to help them get settled in and stuff." Machop runs up to the door and gives it a few knocks. "Elder Torterra! I brought some visitors!" they yell.

"Ah, good," a voice calls back from beyond the door. "Please bring them in."

Machop pushes against the massive door, and with some effort, opens it. We walk inside and see the reason this house has to be so big; Elder Torterra is massive.

"Hello there," Torterra says as we enter, "please, take a seat." Torterra gestures to some cushions on the floor. Taking their offer, we sit down. "Welcome to Amari Village. I am Torterra."

"This is Mudkip, and I'm Snivy," Snivy says before I can interrupt.

"Actually, my name is Jamie."

"Jamie?" Torterra questions. "But you are a Mudkip, are you not?"

"I know, right?" Snivy says. "They always make such a big deal out of it."

"That's because my name isn't Mudkip! It's Jamie!"

"See? They're always like this," Snivy says with an exasperated expression.

"Well," says Torterra, "it seems like being called Mudkip makes them quite upset. If you care about how Jamie feels, you should respect their choice of name. Otherwise, you would be the one making a big deal out of it."

Snivy starts to protest, but can't seem to find anything to say, and end up just frowning at the floor.

"Um, sorry about that, Torterra. And thanks."

"Oh, it's alright. Moving on, what brings you here to Amari Village, Jamie?"

"Well, two things, kinda. We're searching for a mystery dungeon called 'Volomans' said to grant wishes. Have you hear of it?"

"Volomans... Sorry, I'm afraid not; I'm not too familiar with mystery dungeons. You can try asking the other villagers about it."

"I see. The other thing is, we're looking for a Krokorok. They robbed us on the way here, and could breath fire. Anything about that?"

"Ah, yes, the Krokorok. They appeared recently and have been stealing money from the village. It's starting to affect trade with other villages, and has become quite a problem. Anyone who tried to stop them has ended up with burns. They've proved impossible to catch. Are you wanting to take your stolen money back?"

I tell Torterra what little we know about the Wildfire that's affecting Krokorok, and about Volomans' connection to it.

"Ah, I see. I've never heard of this 'Wildfire' you speak of. Where did you learn about it?"

"Um, that's... well, Mew told us," I say, not expecting Torterra to believe it.

"Mew? You mean the guardian Mew?"

"Yeah. They suddenly appeared in front of us and told us about the Wildfire, and asked for our help to stop it, but they didn't tell us much."

"Hmm... Well, that's certainly hard to believe. But I think that if you were lying, you would have come up with something more believable. In any case, I don't think there's much we can do about Krokorok."

"Wait, what?" Snivy says. "Why not?"

"I already told you; no one has been able to catch Krokorok, and as you told me, you two are no exception. We've already decided that our best option is to increase security in the village; posting guards, locking doors, that sort of thing. We've given up on capturing Krokorok."

"But..." Snivy begins, but they find nothing to say. I get it, though; Krokorok is our only lead on Volomons. We can't just give up, but Torterra is right; Krokorok is just too strong.

"I know the situation is far from ideal, but trying to capture Krokorok will only get you hurt. Anyways, it's getting late, and you two seem to have had a long day. You should rest at the inn."

"Um, we actually lost all our money, so we can't pay for the inn," I say.

"Oh, right, Krokorok robbed you. Well, there's no point in forcing you to sleep out in the cold." Torterra turns and walks over to a drawer, pulling a small bag out of it and carrying it over in their mouth. I see I'm not the only one affected by a lack of arms. "Here, this will pay for the inn."

"Oh! Thank you."

"No problem. Would you like Machop to guide you to the inn?"

"No, I think we saw it on the way here. Goodbye!"

"Goodbye and goodnight, Jamie and Snivy."

We leave Torterra's house, and Machop says goodbye and runs off. Now outside, I can see that Torterra was right about it being late; the sun is setting, and the sky is getting dark. As we walk to the inn, the villagers we pass give us a quick, friendly greeting.

Soon enough, we find the inn. Upon entering, we see an Audino sitting at the reception desk. "Hello!" the Audino greets us, "are you here to stay the night?"

"Yes," I reply. "How much is it?" Snivy opens the bag Torterra gave us and starts taking out money.

"10 coins for a room, and 10 more for food and service."

"We'll just take a room," Snivy says, handing over the money.

"Wonderful! Your room will be number 19, up the stairs and down the hall. Come back and ask if you need anything."

We head up and find our room. It's simple, and fairly small. We decide to have a meal, since we're both pretty hungry and we have a good supply of food. There's a little table with some seats, so we sit down and have some fruit. We eat awhile in silence, then Snivy speaks up.

"What do you think we should do now? About Krokorok, I mean. They're our only lead, so I want to chase after them, but they kicked our butts today. And they've got, uh, that fire..." Snivy seems scared; they got hit hard by Krokorok's flamethrower. As a grass type, that was probably a pretty rough experience.

"Yeah, Krokorok's really tough. But we only really need the information on Volomans, right? Maybe we can just talk to them, and skip the fighting."

"Well, maybe, but that Wildfire thing turned them evil, right? I don't think they'll be willing to talk it out, especially after we already fought. And there's still the problem of them stealing!"

"Maybe, but like I said, the important thing is the information on Volomans. We can at least try to get that. And we don't know exactly what the Wildfire does; Krokorok could still talk and think, so they aren't totally possessed, at least. We might be able to reason with them."

"But we'll have to find where they are first."

"Right."

We finish our meal and get ready to sleep. Fortunately, there are two beds. The pillow is soft, the blanket is warm, and I still have no idea what position I'm supposed to sleep in with this body. I decide to try laying on my side, and it's fairly comfortable. "Goodnight Snivy," I say.

"Goodnight Mudkip," Snivy replies, and although I can't see their face, I'm sure they're smiling.

I let out a sigh of frustration and drift to sleep, thinking about how we might deal with Krokorok tomorrow, one way or another.


	11. Azure Woods

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For people unfamiliar with pokemon, here are images of the new pokemon that appear in this chapter:  
> [Scorupi](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/thumb/4/47/451Skorupi.png/600px-451Skorupi.png)  
> [Pansage](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/thumb/6/6b/511Pansage.png/600px-511Pansage.png)

"...Hey, wake up."

I groan and turn away from the sound.

"Come on, we have a big day today!" Snivy says. I tug my blanket over my head. I don't know what time it is, but its too early, and this bed is too comfy.

"...Wake up Jamie."

"What?" I sit up and turn to face Snivy. They called me by my name?

"Aha! I thought that'd get your attention! Now come on, get up and have some breakfast. We gotta ask around the village about Volomans and Krokorok." Snivy walks away and starts getting out some food.

I get up and look out the window. The sun is just barely starting to rise. Snivy's quite the early bird. Unfortunately, I'm not. I eat breakfast and head out with Snivy, leaving our stuff in our room. We've just stepped out of the inn when we see Machop running towards us with a bag in their hands.

"Snivy! Jamie!" they shout as they approach. When they reach us, they stop to catch their breath.

"Hi Machop!" Snivy says. "What's up?"

"Um, well, it's about what Elder Torterra said yesterday. Do you still wanna capture Krokorok?"

"Uh, we're not really sure. We definitely wanna find Krokorok, but they already beat us once, so I don't know about capturing them."

Machop looks around nervously. "Follow me, we should talk somewhere else."

Machop guides us to the outskirts of the village. They check around for anyone nearby, then they open up the bag they're carrying and show us the contents: a small, blue orb and a bundle of rope. "This is a petrify orb, you can use it to stun Krokorok. Then you can tie them up with the rope!"

"Wait, you want us to capture Krokorok?" I ask.

"Yeah. It's like Elder Torterra said; Krokorok is a big problem for the village, so they need to be stopped."

"But didn't Torterra say not to try capturing Krokorok?"

"Well, yeah, but I think they're just trying to keep anyone from getting hurt. My parents tried to stop Krokorok, and they got hurt pretty bad. That's why I want you to stop them! You can also ask them about that mystery dungeon you were talking about."

"What do you think, Snivy?"

"Well, Krokorok is really strong, but that orb would definitely help. But we still don't know where Krokorok is..."

"They're in the Azure Woods. It's a mystery dungeon a little ways away from the village. I've seen them go in there a few times, and I told Elder Torterra, but, well, you know."

"Wow," Snivy says, "this is all super helpful! But, where did you get this orb and the rope?"

"Umm... I kinda... took it. Without asking. Please don't tell anyone about any of this, I'll be in so much trouble!"

"Don't worry, we'd never do that to someone as helpful as you, right Mudkip?"

"That's ri- hey!" I say, and Snivy starts giggling. And just when I thought they'd start calling me by my name.

"Thanks Snivy, and thanks Jamie," Machop says. "You'll find the Azure Woods by following that path over there. Good luck catching Krokorok! I need to get back to the village before _I_ get caught."

"Alright, see ya later!" Snivy says, and Machop runs off.

We run back to the inn to grab our exploring stuff and head down the path through the forest. In a few minutes, we find some much denser woods that are not, in fact, azure. The ground beyond is dotted with colorful flowers and mushrooms, many of which are blue, and a river flows out from the woods, which both point to the namesake of the dungeon.

Still, even without those, something about the place just feels different from the surrounding forest. It's like I can tell just from being near it that this is a mystery dungeon. Snivy seems to know it, too. As we reach the entrance to the dungeon, we both stop for a moment.

"Well, here we are." Snivy turns to me with a familiar smile; they're excited to explore a new dungeon. "Ready, partner?"

I nod, and I find myself smiling along with them. Their enthusiasm seems contagious.

We begin our exploration into the dungeon, and as we walk further in, the dense trees overhead start to partly block out the sun; it hardly feels like we're outside anymore. As is practically tradition at this point, we start to notice the bright blue mushrooms off to the side of the path glowing in the darkness.

I notice Snivy staring at them, thinking. They turn to me and ask a question that will surely puzzle even the greatest minds of our time: "Do you think they're edible?"

I sigh. "Please don't eat the mushrooms." I swear, Snivy has no sense of self preservation.

Suddenly, I hear a branch snap somewhere off the path. We turn towards the source of the sound just in time to see a Scorupi jump out from the brush, slashing at Snivy with its claws! Snivy leaps backward just in time, and the Scorupi gives chase.

Just as I'm about to attack, I hear another sound behind me, and I dodge away, barely avoiding a kick from a Pansage. I blast the Pansage with a water gun, but it shrugs it off and strikes me with a vine whip! It stings way more than it should, and the Pansage is able to land another hit before I jump away, out of its range. So that's what a grass attack feels like to a water type.

Snivy runs up next to me, breathing hard. "You fight the bug," they say, "I'll handle this one!"

Before I can respond, Snivy turns and starts attacking the Pansage. I turn around just in time to duck under a claw swipe from the Scorupi, and I immediately counter with a headbutt. The Scorupi stumbles backward, and I follow up with a water gun, hitting it square in the face! Before I can fire another one, the Scorupi raises its tail and fires a stinger at me, hitting with a painful jab. It fires more stingers at me, hitting me once more before I start running to the side. Fortunately, it doesn't seem to know how to lead its shots.

As I run, a strange idea pops into my head; in between the Scorupi's shots, I turn away, dig my back legs into the ground, and kick a load of dirt at the Scorupi! Surprisingly, it hits dead on, and the Scorupi's attack is interrupted. As it tries to clear the dirt from its eyes, I run up and land a hard tackle, knocking the Scorupi to the ground. I blast it with one last water gun, and a moment later, it evaporates into smoke.

I breathe a sigh of relief, and turn to see Snivy slam the Pansage with their tail. It stumbles backward and falls onto a blue mushroom on the side of the path. Suddenly, it's launched forward through the air, crashing into Snivy and knocking them both to the ground! A moment later, it evaporates.

"Whoa! Are you okay, Snivy?" I ask, running over to them and helping them up.

"Ugh, yeah, just pain. What WAS that?"

"I think it was that mushroom over there..." I walk over to the mushroom in question. It's one of the glowing light blue mushrooms that light up the dungeon. It's tilted towards the path, and its very wide, probably big enough to stand on, but... I experimentally give it a quick poke and pull away. About a second later, the mushroom springs up at high speed!

"Whoa," says Snivy, running over to the mushroom. A moment later, the mushroom shrinks back down to its former size. Snivy gets closer, and before I realize what's happening, they've sat down on the mushroom, and a second later, they're flying through the air.

"Wheeeeee!!" Snivy yells as they fly. They hit the ground with an "oof" and roll to a stop. I run over to my idiot partner, ready to check if they're okay, but they're just giggling happily on the ground.

"Snivy, you're an idiot."

"C'mon, it's a mystery dungeon!" Snivy says as they stand up. "Don't you want to have fun?"

"What I want is to find Krokorok, then find Volomons, then get back to the human world. Then I can have fun."

"You're boring. But wow, those were pretty tough for wild pokemon." says Snivy. "That Scorupi hit hard!"

"Yeah, it's a good thing you decided to have us switch opponents."

"Oh right, you were in a pretty bad matchup, too," Snivy says, and I'm reminded of how bad that vine whip hurt.

"Right... Oh yeah! I figured out a new trick during that fight!"

"Oh? Well come on! Show me!"

I stand up and try to recall what I felt back during the fight. I look behind me and aim for a nearby tree. I dig my back legs into the ground, and kick! The dirt flies through the air and hits the tree I was aiming for. It seems easier to do than it should. It's another pokemon ability, I realize; mud-slap. I guess I figured it out on instinct?

"See? I told you that Joy Scarf would make you stronger; you're already learning new moves!" Snivy turns and starts walking deeper into the dungeon. "Come on, we still gotta find Krokorok!"


	12. Friction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In chapter 3, when I wrote about Jamie swimming underwater, I didn't bother to look up how axolotls (the animal Mudkip is based on) breathe. Apparently they breath through their skin. The chapter has now been updated.

Our walk through the Azure Woods is mostly uneventful; we pass by some bushes bearing plum-like fruits, and as usual, blue mushrooms are a common sight, but there don't seem to be many wild pokemon around. Maybe Krokorok has been taking them out? I think about this as I walk, until eventually, we come across a large pit blocking the path forward.

It's wide enough to cover the whole path, and going off the path isn't practical; the trees and bushes are so dense that walking through it is near impossible. The pit is also very long; probably about 10 meters. Jumping over it is completely out of the question. The good news is, the pit isn't all that deep!

The bad news is, the bottom of the pit is completely covered by blue, glowing mushrooms.

"Hey, those are the springy mushrooms!" says Snivy, and I remember how Snivy was sent flying uncontrollably through the air. Snivy starts walking towards the pit, and I run to intercept them, standing between Snivy and the pit.

"Do NOT jump in there!"

"Hey, I never said I was gonna jump in!"

"Okay, fair enough. Are you going to jump in there?"

"...Yes."

"No! Don't you remember what happened last time?"

"Yeah, it was fun! Most pokemon like having fun, you know. Besides, how else are we gonna get through here? Going back and finding another path would take way too long."

"Oh, come on, Snivy! You're being so immatu-"

Suddenly, Snivy shoves me backward, and I fall into the pit.

I land on my back against a mushroom, and I'm bounced back into the air. I fall back down and bounce on another, helplessly flailing to try and land on my feet. While I'm being tossed up and down, I notice Snivy also bouncing around, although they seem to be having an easier time. A few times, I almost land on my feel, but I fail to land properly and still can't get control.

Eventually, I'm thrown back onto solid ground. I land poorly, but I'm more dizzy than hurt. I get up and shake myself awake. I turn back toward the pit just in time to see Snivy landing on the other side.

"What was that for!?" I shout to them.

They turn to me, smirking. "Hey Mudkip, hurry up and jump over here! It's easy!"

I walk up to the edge of the pit. Snivy's on the other side already, so I guess I have to, but...

"What are you waiting for?!" Snivy shouts surprisingly loudly. I look up to see them glaring at me. "And you said I was immature, Mudkip! You think you're a grown-up, but you're just a scared baby!"

What is their problem!? That's it, I'm gonna get across this pit just to show them up! I look down and spot a nice, big mushroom with no tilt, perfect for jumping on.

I take a few steps back, and make a running start before jumping into the pit. I land on the mushroom perfectly, and it launches me into the air! I look down to see the mushroom I'm about to land on, and unfortunately, it's tilted to the right. I land on it pretty well, but I lose control when it bounces me to the right.

I end up landing on my side on the next mushroom, but I manage to right myself in the air after it launches me. I look down to see the next one. It's tilted left, but I'm starting to get the hang of this. I land well, and as it bounces me, I turn left to keep control.

I bounce from mushroom to mushroom, and it's actually pretty satisfying to be jumping around on them when I'm not tumbling through the air with all the grace of a paper bag. It's like a trampoline, but even more fun, with all the tilts on the mushrooms that I have to react to and adjust for! Gradually, I make my way forward across the pit and land safely on the other side.

"Look at you, Mudkip," Snivy says, and I turn to seem them smirking at me. "You called me immature, but you were having just as much fun as I was, bouncing around down there."

Oh. I was smiling that whole time, wasn't I? "Oh... I guess we're both pretty immature, huh?" I say with a sheepish smile.

"That's right!" Snivy says, smiling triumphantly. "Now lets take a break. I'm hungry, and we'll need to be in good condition when we find Krokorok."

We lay out our picnic blanket by a nearby bush, and we pick some of its fruit for our meal. As we set up our picnic, I notice a large body of water a little further down the path, off to the side. I recall the river I saw before we entered the dungeon. The river is probably the source of it, but from here, the water doesn't look like it's flowing very fast, if at all.

We eat our food, and the silence is awkward. Snivy seemed really angry when they shouted at me back there, so I think they might be ashamed at their outburst. I'm starting to feel bad about having made them so angry in the first place; they really didn't like it when I called them immature. I finish eating pretty quick, and I start to make my way over to the water I saw.

"Huh? Wait, where are you going?" Snivy asks.

"I'm gonna go for a swim."

"O-oh. Right. Okay."

I reach the water, and it's about the size of a large pond. The water is pretty clear, but not as clear as the water in Marine Cavern. There also seem to be some plants growing at the bottom. I've only ever been swimming in pools before, so I feel kinda uneasy about swimming with plants, but I really need to do something relaxing. I cautiously walk into the pond, and as the water touches my skin, I feel my unease wash away.

It takes a moment to remember how to swim in this body, but once I get the hang of it, it's the easiest thing in the world. I swim around and feel the water flowing over my skin. I turn and dive and flip and move, and I feel like I'm flying!

I pause for a minute and just float. It feels so good to be in the water. I liked swimming as a human, but this is totally different! I don't even have to manually breathe down here, which felt weird at first, but it's so much easier than breathing air. Everything about this just feels right... I think I might miss this when I get back to the human world.

I decide to surface for a moment, and when I do, I see Snivy standing at the edge of the water.

"U-uh, hey, um, partner..." they say, struggling to keep eye contact.

"Hey Snivy. What's up?"

"I... I wanted to, uh, apologize. For getting mad at you, and pushing you and yelling at you back there. That was... pretty mean of me."

"Oh... Well... I'm sorry for calling you immature, and treating you like a dumb little kid. That was wrong, and I didn't mean to make you angry."

"Oh, uh, alright. So, are we cool now?"

"Yeah. But could we please be a little more cautious in these dungeons? I just really don't want us to get hurt..."

"Well... Okay. But in exchange, you have to be a little more courageous! The world isn't as dangerous as you seem to think, and we'll never get anything done without taking at least some risks."

They have a good point. We took a risk just coming here, after Krokorok already beat us once. And Snivy's... 'brave' method did get us across the pit. I was acting just like Elder Torterra back there. "Alright, deal. Do you wanna move on now?"

"Actually, I wanted to swim for a bit."

"Oh? I though you said you were no good at swimming."

"That was when the swimming in question involved going through an underwater tunnel of unknown length."

"Fair point. Come on in, then!"

"Alright then!" Snivy says, stepping back from the water. They get a running start, leap into the air, and cannonball into the water with a massive splash!

We spend a while playing and laughing and splashing each other with water. Snivy can't swim nearly as well as I can, but they aren't too bad at it, and they have fun anyways. We even do some light sparring, with Snivy's grass attacks being balanced by my superior movement in the water. Eventually, Snivy swims to the land and sits down. I follow, laying down with my back legs in the water. I kinda don't wanna leave the pond.

Snivy rests for a moment. "Sorry. It's pretty tiring, trying to stay above the water for so long."

"It's fine. We should probably get moving soon anyways."

"Oh yeah, Krokorok! I totally forgot about that," Snivy says, smiling.

"Actually, so did I. I only remembered just now." I guess we both got pretty distracted.

We rest for a minute, then go to pick up our stuff and move on. It's a little weird to be on land and breathing air again, but it doesn't take long to adjust. We continue down the path through the woods, and soon enough, the path ends in a clearing. There's a few of the standard mushrooms about, along with another fruit bush, but there's also a river going by, and a pile of large bags next to the river. It looks like it might be Krokorok's hoard, but where's...

"Hey, is that Krokorok's stolen money?" Snivy says, running toward the pile.

"Wait a sec!" I yell, running after them. I notice a rustle in the brush at the edge of the clearing, and I tackle Snivy out of the way just in time to avoid a stream of fire! We both turn to see the familiar face of Krokorok, glaring at us.

"You're going to regret coming here, stupid brats."


	13. Krokorok

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a reminder, here is an image of what Krokorok looks like:  
> [Krokorok](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/d/d4/552Krokorok.png)  
> 

Snivy and I stand frozen in the clearing, face to face with an angry Krokorok.

"So, you two want to get beaten up again, huh?" Krokorok says with a sinister smile.

Snivy steps forward. "Why are you stealing from the villagers?!"

"Why? Because I can, that's why! What, are you gonna stop me?" Krokorok asks, raising their fist as it ignites into flame. Apparently, they can do more than just breathe fire. Snivy tries to stand strong, but I can see them tremble slightly in fear at the fire.

I speak up. "Do you really think it's okay for you to steal from others, just because you have power?"

"Of course! That's exactly what this power is for; it lets me take whatever I want, from whoever I want!"

"Oh yeah?" Snivy says. "Well bad pokemon who hurt others get punished! And we're gonna make sure you get punished too!"

Immediately, Krokorok's confident smile is replaced with a look of intense anger. "Punished? PUNISHED?! I've spend my entire life getting punished!"

Snivy and I are shocked at Krokorok sudden change in mood. Krokorok continues. "Before I had this power, I was stuck in a desert, and every source of food and water had a price tag. If I wanted to eat or drink, I had two choices; buy it with money I didn't have, or steal the money I needed. I've been caught and punished more times than I could possibly count for just trying to survive!

"Then, one day, I was on the brink of starvation when a fresh target traveled into town, a Persian. They caught me trying to take their stuff, and when we fought, they hit me with this fire. Next thing I knew, I could use it too. With this power, I can take as much money as I wanted. This power is the only reason I'm still alive!

"Eventually, I left. I needed more money, and I'd robbed that desert town dry. This is my third town, and I'm almost ready to move on from here, too, so unless you two want another beating, you can just run away now."

"Wait a sec," Snivy says, "what do you mean you need more money?"

"I mean, I'm not gonna let you stop me!" Krokorok shouts, taking a step towards us. "Now either get out of my sight or you're gonna get burned again!"

"Snivy, use it now!" I say, and Snivy's already reaching into the bag.

"Use wha-" Krokorok stops as they see the petrify orb in Snivy's hands. "No!" They dash towards us, but Snivy activates the orb, and Krokorok instantly freezes in place.

"Awesome!" Snivy cheers. "Quick, help me with the rope and let's-"

Snivy is interrupted by a low growling from Krokorok. We turn to see fire igniting around Krokorok's paralyzed body. The fire swirls and grows until Krokorok erupts into a pillar of flame. Krokorok raises their head to the sky and lets out a furious roar!

They look back down to us, breathing heavily and smiling confidently. "You... stupid... brats... You're going to have to try a lot harder than that!" They jump towards us with their fist cloaked in fire, and we each dodge to the side. Just as Krokorok lands, they turn and knock me over with their tail, simultaneously blasting streams of fire at Snivy! Snivy jumps away and retreats out of Krokorok's range, so Krokorok turns to me as I stand up.

I shoot a water gun at Krokorok, but they dodge it and dash towards me, snapping at me with a bite! I jump to the side and try to counter with a tackle, but Krokorok is ready for it and hits me with the back of their fist, knocking me out of the air!

While Krokorok's back is turned, Snivy tries to approach from behind, but after I'm knocked away, Krokorok turns around and forces Snivy back with a wide sweep of fire breath! Snivy's in a tough situation; they can't attack from far away, and with Krokorok's fire threatening them, they can't get close.

Just as I get up, Krokorok is already coming after me again. They wind up their left arm for a punch, so I dodge to their right. Unfortunately, it was a feint, which I realize when I'm suddenly struck by a fire-powered punch from Krokorok's right arm! I'm sent tumbling away from the force of it, and Krokorok turns to deal with Snivy.

This is bad; Krokorok is way stronger than us, especially thanks to the Wildfire. They're way more skilled, too; they can predict our attacks and dodges perfectly, and they're pretty fast for their size. The only times we landed hits in our first fight was when we caught them by surprise... that's it!

I struggle to my feet just in time to see Snivy take a punch. Before Krokorok can follow up, I fire a water gun, but they turn around just in time to dodge it. They run at me, and I turn around and start running away. I run for a moment, then I stop and kick dirt right into Krokorok's face!

Krokorok's good at dodging, but they weren't ready for me to attack while facing away from them! They cry out and try to wipe the mud from their eyes. I call out to Snivy, who rushes forward to attack! Krokorok turns around and blindly shoots fire, which Snivy easily jumps over, slamming Krokorok's head with a leaf tornado! I follow up with a water gun, finally landing a direct hit, and Snivy jumps in for another attack.

Suddenly, Krokorok snaps at Snivy and catches them in a bite, their mouth burning with fire as red-hot fangs dig into Snivy! I shoot another water gun to try and interrupt them, but Krokorok dodges, tossing Snivy to the ground before running at me. I run away for a few steps before trying to land another mud-slap, but Krokorok is expecting it this time. They dodge it effortlessly and counter with a punch, knocking me away.

Shoot, looks like the same trick won't work twice. As I get up, I quickly rack my brain for a new idea, a new surprise to use. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I see a familiar sight, and I recall a memory that might just hold the trick I need.

I dash away towards the edge of the clearing, and I can hear Krokorok giving chase behind me. When I reach the edge, I turn around and fire one last water gun at Krokorok. They dodge to the side, and with that, everything is lined up perfectly. With my back against the wall, Krokorok has me cornered. They lunge forward with a bite, and I jump backwards...

Right into a glowing blue mushroom.

There's a brief second where I can see Krokorok's face. Their expression throughout the fight has been angry, but now it shifts to mild confusion, then a quick flash of realization, and the last thing I see is an instant of fearful regret.

The mushroom springs forward, and I rocket forward right into Krokorok's stomach! I'm not able to see it, but I hear Krokorok yelling, the sound traveling farther away before they finally hit the ground with a crash! I also hear something splash into water, likely something falling into the river.

I get up and rub my head; turns out becoming a human cannonball really hurts. Or, pokemon cannonball, I guess. I look up to see Krokorok laying on the ground in front of their pile of loot, with the river behind them. It looks like some of the bags are missing; they probably fell into the river. Suddenly, my legs give out from under me; I've taken a lot of hits already, and that was the last straw.

"Mudkip!" Snivy calls, and I seem them running to my side in surprisingly good condition. "Here, have an oran," they say, holding the berry to my mouth. I open, and Snivy pushes it in. A few seconds later, and I'm back on my feet, though not completely healed.

"Thanks," I say.

"Sheesh, how come you're always the one pulling off risky stunts in battles? I thought you wanted to be careful."

"Talk later, we're not done yet!" I say, turning back to Krokorok, who's gotten back up, but...

Krokorok is kneeling by the river, desperately trying to recover the coins that fell in. "No, no no no, no no no no no!!" The river is flowing pretty fast, and with Krokorok already exhausted from fighting, the vast majority of the coins flow down the river before Krokorok can recover them. Krokorok soon gives up and simply stares down at the river. Slowly, Krokorok turns to us, and Snivy and I prepare to resume fighting...

"P-please, I need money, right now!" Krokorok begs, their expression a mixture of desperation and terror.

"Wait, what?" Snivy asks, sounding just as confused as I am. "Why?"

"I don't have time to explain! I'm sorry for stealing from you, but-" Krokorok is interrupted when their arm suddenly bursts into flame! They flinch and cry out in pain, clutching their arm.

"Whoa, what's going on?!" I ask, confused, suspicious, and somewhat concerned. "Why is your fire hurting you? And why do you need money?"

"It's this stupid power," Krokorok says, their voice pained. "I need to keep getting more money, or else it starts burning me like this! Please, I need money, right now, or else it'll- AARGH!!" The fire suddenly intensifies, covering Krokorok's whole body now, and they drop to their knees. "P-PLEASE!!"

Snivy looks around in a panic, turning towards our bags for a moment, but we left the small amount of money Torterra gave us at the inn. "Uh, jump in the water!" Snivy says.

"You IDIOT! You think I haven't tired that before?! The only thing that stops this accursed fire is money. I need money! I NEED IT!!"

But we don't have any money, and from the looks of it, we don't have time to go back to the village. I can't help but think, though; why money? I desperately try to think about what might be causing the Wildfire to do this, and how money of all things could stop it, and I think about what Mew told us.

Dangerous power, corrupts desires, will spread through the world- Wait! Desires! That's it!

I run over to the edge of the clearing, to a fruit-bearing bush. I pluck off a fruit and toss it to Krokorok. "There! That's what you need, not money!"

Krokorok stares at me in disbelief. "Is this some sort of sick joke to you? I'm on fire! I don't need a philosophy lesson, I NEED MONEY!!"

"No, you don't! Your power is somehow linked to your desires! In the desert, you wanted, NEEDED money to survive. It's your greatest desire, so that must be why your power backfiring is linked to money. But you don't need money anymore! There's food and water everywhere, for free! You don't have to desire money anymore, and if that desire goes away, then your power won't make you need money anymore!"

"You idiot, do you really think that'll work?!"

"I don't know, but we don't have any money nearby! This is the only thing that might work. And do you really think some magical fire power actually cares about how much money you have? It's not about money, it's about your desires! You don't need money, and you haven't needed it for a long time!"

Krokorok pauses and thinks, looking down at the fruit I tossed them. "...Darn it, you're right; this is my only chance," they say, turning to face their remaining bags of money. "I haven't even spent a single stupid coin of all this in months. It's... It's worthless! I don't need it! I don't WANT it!!" they say to themself.

They slowly limp towards the bags, the red Wildfire still burning them. "I don't need it... I don't need it..." They place a foot on the bags. "I... don't... NEED IT!" With a thrust of their leg, Krokorok pushes the remaining bags into the river! The bags spill their contents into the water, and Krokorok watches as their hoard floats downstream. Part of me expects the Wildfire to intensify from Krokorok losing even more money. But it doesn't.

Snivy and I watch silently as Krokorok limps back over to the fruit on the ground, the fire around them gradually dying down. They pick up the fruit. "That dumb brat is right..." they say, taking a bite out of the fruit. "This... is all I... need... All I've... ever... needed..." Krokorok falls to their knees before collapsing to the ground. The Wildfire has complete died out.


	14. Aftermath

After Krokorok collapsed, we tied them up with the rope Machop gave us and carried them back to Amari Village. We debated about whether to give them an oran berry, with how severe Krokorok's wounds were, we decided it was too risky not to give them one, since their wounds might get infected and stuff. They remained unconscious for the entire trip.

When we got back to the village, we were met with gasps and stares. After a brief explanation of what happened, up to when Krokorok's power backfired, Krokorok was taken to Elder Torterra's house, with the innkeeper Audino to examine their wounds. It turns out Audino is a trained doctor.

Snivy and I are sitting in Torterra's house, while Krokorok, Torterra, and Audino are in another room, behind a massive door. It's weird, being inside a house built for such a large pokemon.

After a minute or so of silence, Snivy speaks up.

"So, do you think that the... thing you did worked?" Snivy asks.

I think for a moment. "I don't know. Krokorok is still alive, at least, and the flames got smaller and smaller before dying out, but I'm afraid that might just be because Krokorok was getting weaker. It makes sense to me, that Krokorok's desire might be connected to the Wildfire, but I just don't know enough about it to say anything for sure."

"Yeah... Well hey, we can ask Krokorok about it now, after Audino and Torterra are finished with them! We can learn more about the Wildfire, although it sounded like Krokorok got it from some other pokemon, not from Volomans..."

"That's right. I guess that means it really can spread from person to person."

"Wow, that's scary... Wait, does that mean WE might be infected?!"

"Uh oh, maybe?! I don't know, but Neither of us have used fire at all, so-"

Suddenly, the huge door to the other room opens, and Audino walks out with a small box of medical supplies. They shut the door behind them, then turn to us. "Well, good news; Krokorok will survive." Snivy and I breathe a sigh of relief. "They have second degree burns all over their body, and even have some internal damage. I know you said their power 'backfired' but what exactly happened back there?"

"It's... complicated," I say. "During the fight, Krokorok's power made them burst into flames. We managed to find a way to stop it, though."

"Is Krokorok still unconscious?" Snivy asks.

"No, they woke up while I was treating their burns. They didn't answer my questions, though, probably because of either the pain or just general uncooperativeness. Or both. Torterra's questioning them now, so hopefully their mood will change."

"Alright. Thanks," Snivy says.

We say our goodbyes and Audino leaves, and Snivy and I continue waiting.

After around 5 to 10 minutes, Torterra leaves the room. "Ah, hello there, Jamie and Snivy. I didn't expect you to still be here. Was there something you wanted?"

"Uh, yeah," I say. "We want to talk to Krokorok. Do you think we could do that?"

"Yes, I don't see a problem with that. Krokorok was being difficult for a while, but they've calmed down a little. I have to ask, what happened in those woods? They claim they're done stealing forever, but they don't seem to regret what they did in the slightest, and they refused to give any explanation about what happened, including about their burns."

"Um, well... That's pretty personal," Snivy says. "I'm not sure we should say..."

"Basically, Krokorok's had a pretty rough life," I say. "I don't think we should say why, but I think you can trust them when they say they'll stop stealing."

"Well, rough life or not, that doesn't undo the damage Krokorok has caused. Speaking of which, they said that all the stolen money was knocked into a river during the fight?"

"Oh..." That's... not the whole truth.

"Yeah," Snivy says, "it was a pretty intense fight. Mudkip managed to land a really good hit, and it ended up knocking Krokorok into the money, and, well..."

"Well, that's very unfortunate. I suppose I'll have to tell the village that the rivers might just start running with gold soon!" Torterra lets out a laugh. "Oh, and one more thing," they say, suddenly turning serious. "Jamie. Snivy. What you did was incredibly dangerous. Your safety is far more important than any amount of money. Please, never do something so reckless ever again."

Snivy and I fall silent for a few seconds. I had forgotten that Torterra wasn't just being cowardly; they were trying to be responsible for others' safety. They just didn't want us to get hurt... "Oh, um. I'm sorr-"

"No." Snivy says. I turn to see them almost glaring at Torterra, a serious look on their face. "I'll decide what my safety is worth, and if I do something reckless, that's my choice, and my safety on the line. I'd never accomplish anything if I always avoided danger, so I'll judge for myself how much I'm willing to risk."

Torterra sighs. "You young ones always have so much left to learn. Snivy, the most painful way to learn a lesson is to make a mistake, so listen to me now; there are things in this world that are far too painful to lose, that you'll never be able to get back. You are right, of course; the choice to take risks is yours. But I urge you, realize what you can't afford to lose in your life before it's too late."

I look back and forth between the two. Snivy looks tense, almost angry, while Torterra simply stands there, awaiting a response. I feel incredibly uncomfortable. Thankfully, after a few silent seconds, Snivy sighs and relaxes. "Alright. I'll keep that in mind."

"Thank you for listening. Now, if you'd like to talk with Krokorok, feel free to do so for as long as you need to."

"Uh, thanks," I say, and Torterra walks off to some other part of the house. We go and open the huge door to Krokorok's room, and immediately hear a voice.

"Ugh, what is it now?!" We see Krokorok laying on a bed. Their skin is covered in burns, and also what looks like a thin layer of some kind of ointment. They barely seem to move their body at all, except to talk.

"Uh, hi Krokorok," I say. "We wanted to talk with you a bit."

"Oh, it you two brats. If you're here to ask for an apology, don't bother. I don't regret doing what I had to do to survive."

"No, we wanted to ask some questions about your fire power, or the Wildfire, as it's called."

"The 'Wildfire', huh? Alright, ask away."

"Well, um... That whole backfiring thing your power did, did I... is that fixed now? Do you think it might happen again, or is it gone for good?"

"Heh... 'gone for good'. I like that choice of words." Krokorok pauses, and I think I see them smile? "I told you about how I got my power, that 'Wildfire' or whatever, but I left out a few details. Back in the desert, I always wanted money. It was everything; food, water, I couldn't get any of that without it. I always wanted it, more than anything, but after I got that power, it was... different.

"I couldn't stop thinking about money, not ever. I would plan heists while I fell asleep, and I'd have dreams about money, and nightmares. It was like a burning itch inside my head, and the only way to scratch it was to get more. When it got harder and harder to find money in the desert, it got even worse. That's when I found out about how it could backfire like it did.

"Fortunately, I was now strong enough to leave my home, but even after I left and was finally able to scratch that cursed itch, it kept going. Every day, my only thought was 'how am I going to get more money?'... But now, I... I-" I start to notice Krokorok's voice changing. It's still Krokorok's voice, but something about it sounds different. Then, when I look at their eyes, it hits me:

Krokorok is crying.

"Finally," they say, their voice choking up, "I'm finally free! I can't feel it at all anymore. My head is finally cured of that cursed fire!" Krokorok stops talking, and simply sobs, smiling the happiest smile I've ever seen as tears roll down their cheeks. "It's been months since I could think clearly, since I could feel joy, and now that fire is finally gone for good! Thank you, you brat. Thank you for saving me..."

Krokorok keeps sobbing, and I'm smiling along with them. I never expected the Wildfire to be so horrible. It's scary, but I feel glad that we ended up saving Krokorok from it. Eventually, Krokorok calms down, and we ask some questions about their experience with the Wildfire. Unfortunately, they didn't know anything about Volomans, nor much about the pokemon they got the Wildfire from, but they did have some useful info.

What we know about the Wildfire now is this: Aside from granting fire powers, the Wildfire also seems to cause obsession, but I don't think it's necessarily about money. The obsession seems to be the 'corrupting desires' bit Mew mentioned. It keeps you from thinking about much else, and from feeling much of anything. Not even just happiness, but any feelings besides anger, frustration, and desire are very difficult to feel. Krokorok also told us that the obsession gets worse over time, as the Wildfire pushed them to take more and more money. And of course, if you can't satisfy the obsession, you get burned.

It really does seem to act like a wildfire; powerful and dangerous, and needing more and more fuel to maintain itself as it grows. Krokorok's fuel was money, and if they couldn't supply that, the Wildfire burned Krokorok's body for fuel instead. Everything about the Wildfire seems to be connected to that obsession, that desire, and so when Krokorok stopped wanting money, the Wildfire disappeared along with their desire.

"So," Snivy says, "what are you going to do now? I mean, after you finish recovering? You're gonna stop stealing now, right?"

"Yeah, I've had enough of that. Of all this, actually; I'm done with money, and done with civilization! I was able to live on my own for months on natural water and the fruits I gathered, and the only reason I kept stealing was to keep that cursed fire satisfied. The only thing money and civilization have done to me is hurt me. I never want to even see another coin ever again!"

Whoa. I'm are a bit shocked, but I guess with everything they've been through, it makes sense for Krokorok to do something as extreme as abandon civilization. At least they won't be stealing anymore. We say goodbye and leave Torterra's house, heading back to the inn. We set our bags down and eat dinner.

"Hey Snivy, about what you said to Torterra back there..."

"Oh, uh, yeah? What about it?"

"Well, I agree with you about it; that it's our choice to take risks, and if we hadn't we wouldn't have saved Krokorok and stopped them from stealing. But, as long as we're partners, it's not just your safety you're risking. When we decide to take risks, let's make those decisions as a team, alright?"

"Oh, yeah, of course! I got a little carried away back there, but you're right; we take risks as a team."

"Alright, thanks."

"No problem Mudkip."

I frown and silently return to my meal.

"Come on, I'm just joking around!" Snivy says, smiling. "You don't need to take it so seriously!"

Soon, we finish our meal and get ready for bed. We decide to ask the villagers if they know anything about Volomans tomorrow. With that plan made, I fall asleep, exhausted from the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for disappearing without saying anything. I stopped writing to focus on college, and I have a short break now until the 22nd. Hopefully I'll be able to make at least one more chapter before then.


	15. Merchantry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For people unfamiliar with pokemon, here are images of the new pokemon that appear in this chapter (there's a lot, but the last one is the most important):  
> [Machamp](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/8/8f/068Machamp.png)  
> [Kecleon](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/5/50/352Kecleon.png)  
> [Throh](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/7/74/538Throh.png)  
> [Sawk](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/a/a8/539Sawk.png)  
> [Rapidash](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/3/3f/078Rapidash.png)  
> [Mightyena](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/f/f1/262Mightyena.png)

I wake up in the comfy bed of our room. It's been a few days since the fight with Krokorok, and not a lot has happened. Seeing Snivy already up and eating breakfast, I get out of bed.

"Good morning Mudkip!" Snivy says.

I ignore them and make my way to the table. While I'm grabbing my food, I notice that our supply is running out. And besides... "Hey Snivy, do you think we should leave the village soon? We've used up most of the money Torterra gave us for the inn, and no one here seems to know anything about Volomans or the Wildfire."

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing, actually. I think we should ask about where the nearest town is. You saw we're also low on food right? There are plenty of berry bushes and stuff in the forest, so we can gather some more food on the way."

"Sounds good. Wanna go to Machop's house and ask?"

"Alright."

We finish our meal and head out. The village is fairly small, and we've gotten familiar with it by now, so it's a short walk from the inn to Machop's house. We knock on the door, and a moment later, we're greeted by Machamp, one of Machop's parents.

"G'morning, Snivy, Jamie. What's up? Machop's still grounded for stealing, so if you're lookin' for them..."

"No," Snivy says. "Actually, we're planning on leaving the village soon, and we wanted to know where the nearest town is."

"Yer leavin' already? I guess you do want to be explorers, after all. Well, the only other civilized place nearby is Maceria Town. It ain't too bad a place; we took Machop on a trip there once. They're a little unwelcoming to outsiders, at least compared to here, but you should be alright there. Just follow the road to the west, and you'll get there eventually. But are ya sure ya wanna leave already?"

"Yeah," I say, "we gotta find Volomans."

Machamp sighs. "Alright then. Well, at least come here and say goodbye to Machop before you go, okay? Oh, and on that note, Machop wanted me to thank you for not telling on them, even though we found out anyways."

"Alright, goodbye. And thanks for the info!"

"No problem."

We walk away from Machop's house, but before we can decide what to do next, we see something very strange; entering the village is a wagon being pulled by a Rapidash. Alongside it walks a cheery Kecleon, and trailing behind the wagon are a Throh and a Sawk, vigilantly watching the surrounding area. Most of the villagers just stand and watch, but a few approach the wagon curiously.

"Hello, hello, my lovely villagers," the Kecleon says. "I come to you bearing a wagon of merchandise! But not just any merchandise, oh no, these are rare goods from exotic lands! You won't be finding products like these around here, and certainly not at the prices I'm offering! So come one and come all to Kecleon's wondrous wagon!"

As Kecleon gives their charismatic speech, the villagers are visibly intrigued, and many go over to check out the wagon. At first, Kecleon seemed happy with the attention, but as more and more people came to look and ask about the goods, it soon became clear that no one is actually going to buy anything.

"Hey," Snivy says to me, "no one in the village had any info, but Kecleon isn't from the village!"

"Oh yeah, good idea; they might know something about the wildfire!"

We head over and wait until Kecleon finishes talking to the line of customers. While we wait, we overhear Kecleon politely ask why no one seems to be buying anything, and a villager finally explains: everyone is broke because a thief had been robbing the village. Kecleon continues to try and keep smiling, but they're obviously running out of patience.

By the time Kecleon finishes dealing with the non-customers, their smile has vanished, and they let out a defeated sigh at the villagers still looking around the wagon before noticing me and Snivy. "Hm? Oh, did you want something? There's a few cheap toys back there, if you've got a bit of spare change lying around."

"Um, actually," I say, "we were wondering if you know anything about pokemon with unusual fire powers? Like, a non-fire type using fire-type moves?"

"Seriously?! Is this just a common thing now?! Pokemon with fire powers?!" Snivy and I are surprised by Kecleon's sudden outburst. They sigh and partly regain their composure before continuing. "Yeah, I've been dealing with a thief since the last village; a Mightyena that can use fire. They've tried to steal my goods three times now, and my guards' fees are getting expensive. Even my transportation is asking for a raise. And now the only village for miles is completely broke! Ugh, it's gonna take months to recover from all this..."

"Oh," I say. "I'm sorry to hear that, but I think we might be able to take care of that thief for you."

"Oh? I was just gonna tell the local authorities. What are you offering?"

"We dealt with the last thief to come to this village, and made them stop!" Snivy proudly declares. "If you can tell us where we can find this Mightyena, we can stop them."

"Well, that's interesting. The Mightyena is probably somewhere outside the village, waiting for their next chance. If you can go out and capture them, I'd be very grateful!" Kecleon says, their charismatic demeanor returning.

"Awesome, thanks! Good luck with your merchant-ing! C'mon Mudkip, let's hurry!" Snivy turns and runs for the forest surrounding the village. I chase after them, leaving Kecleon to deal with another wave of non-customers.

"Hey, Snivy, wait a sec! Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, Krokorok was pretty aggressive..."

"Huh? Well, we need to- hmm..." Snivy stops walking and thinks. "I think this is our best option; Mightyena has the Wildfire, so they could know something about the Wildfire or Volomans. You're right, they could attack us, but I think it's worth the risk."

"Hmm... Alright, I'm in. And I think I have a plan, too."

"Mightyena?" Snivy calls out. "Are you out there?"

"We want to talk!" I say. "We promise we aren't trying to capture you!"

We keep walking through the forest, a good distance from the village. There's only silence in response to our calls. Snivy speaks up again. "Mightyena, we know some stuff about your fire power! We might be able to help you!"

For a moment, there's just more silence, but then I hear some footsteps from behind some trees and bushes. I freeze as a Mightyena slowly walks out from behind their cover. They have a bag hanging around their neck, and a serious look on their face. "You two made a very risky decision to come here. If I had just been some violent criminal, you would be in serious danger right now."

Well that... wasn't what I expected them to say. "So you mean, you're not a violent criminal?" I ask.

"Luckily for you, no, I'm not. You shouldn't have come looking for me; this situation isn't safe for children to get involved in."

"Well, we're already involved now!" Snivy says.

"Um, I'm Jamie, and this is Snivy. Mightyena, why were you trying to steal from Kecleon's wagon? You said you aren't just some criminal, so you must have some reason for it, right?"

"That's none of your business. Like I said, you shouldn't get involved." Mightyena opens their mouth to say more, but hesitates for a moment. "You... said you knew about my fire powers. What exactly do you know?"

We tell Mightyena everything we know about the Wildfire; the fire powers, the backfiring, the spread from pokemon to pokemon, the link to the pokemon's desires, and that we're trying to go to Volomans to stop it. We leave out the part about Mew, but we briefly mention Krokorok. Mightyena seems surprised to hear about the backfire part; they must not have had that happen yet.

"Linked to desires... that makes sense. I'm sorry, but I don't know anything about this 'Wildfire' or Volomans. You should spread the word as much as you can, it sounds very dangerous. Thank you for telling me this." Mightyena turns and begins walking away.

"Wait!" Snivy calls out. "If you just keep going like this, you'll get burned like Krokorok!" Mightyena stops walking. "Please, we want to help you! Just tell us what's making you do this!"

Mightyena turns and looks back at us. They stare for a few second, then sigh and walk back, sitting down in front of us. "Fine. First of all, I'm from Maceria Town, a town near here. I have a child there, Poochyena, and they have a deadly illness. The doctors of the town didn't even recognize it, and every treatment they tried failed.

"I turned outside the town for a treatment, and at some point I developed these strange fire powers. I didn't understand at the time, but I must have met someone else with the Wildfire without realizing. Eventually, I learned more about the illness, including it's name: Praefoco Disease. Unfortunately, the medicine that cures it uses a plant that doesn't grow anywhere near here. I returned to the village to check on Poochyena and see if anyone there had learned anything, and that's I found Kecleon. I went to check if they were selling the plant I needed, and they weren't just selling the plant, but the exact medicine. For the price of 5,000 coins.

"Maceria Town isn't very big, nor very rich. Even with everyone I knew willing to help me pay for it, we couldn't get enough money. I tried my best to convince Kecleon to sell it for less, or to accept something else as payment, but they wouldn't budge no matter how much I begged, and they couldn't have cared less about Poochyena.

"We didn't have time to raise enough money, or ask others for help, as Kecleon was leaving the next morning. I made a promise that night; I would get that medicine and save Poochyena, no matter what. That's why I've been trying to steal it. But, Kecleon's guards are strong, too strong even for my new powers, so I've failed so far.

"That's why I'm doing this. Are you satisfied now?"

So it looks like the Mightyena's Wildfire is fueled by their desire to save Poochyena. We convinced Krokorok that they didn't need money, but we can't just convince Mightyena to give up on Poohyena! And we shouldn't, even if we could! I turn to Snivy. "What should we do? This is nothing like with Krokorok."

Snivy raises an eyebrow, but then smiles. "Well, obviously we help Mightyena steal the medicine!" Oh. That makes sense; Mightyena's desire to save Poochyena should disappear once Poochyena isn't in danger anymore. And honestly, after hearing that story, I don't think I'll feel bad about stealing from Kecleon.

"Oh yeah! That sounds-"

" **No**." We turn to face Mightyena, startled by their harsh tone. "I already told you, I won't let you get involved. It's too dangerous, and children have no place in criminal activity." Mightyena stares at us, determined to discourage our involvement.

"... What will they do to us?" Snivy asks.

"What?"

"The guards, and Kecleon. What will they do to us if they catch us trying to steal? I mean, you said it yourself; we're kids! They can't hurt us or imprison us, can they? There's no danger for us at all."

Mightyena pauses, their frown growing.

"Please Mightyena," I say, "let us help you. We... I'm going to steal the medicine for you whether you accept our help or not, so just let us work together! I want to help you save Poochyena!"

"Yeah!" says Snivy. "We're getting involved anyways! But if you're with us, we'd be less likely to get hurt, right?"

There's a long silence in the forest. I watch Mightyena's face for a clue at their thoughts. Unfortunately, I'm no good at reading pokemon's expressions yet. Finally, Mightyena lets out a sigh of defeat. "Alright, fine. But if you get hurt, it's not my responsibility."

"Yes!" Snivy cheers, leaping into the air. They turn to me and offer a high five, which I return.

"... Wait a sec," I say. "I have an idea!"

"Huh? What's up?" Snivy asks.

I start walking back to the village, and motion for Snivy and Mightyena to follow me. "Let's ask Krokorok for help!"


	16. Mightyena

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For people unfamiliar with pokemon, here is the new pokemon that appears in this chapter:  
> [Lilligant](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/2/21/549Lilligant.png)  
> 

Snivy, Krokorok, Mightyena, and I are all in Krokorok's room at the inn. The day after we brought Krokorok to the village, they were moved from Torterra's house to a room at the inn. We managed to get Mightyena in through a window without anyone noticing, and we've just finished explaining the situation to Krokorok.

"So," Krokorok begins, "you're telling me a dark-type with the Wildfire needs to steal to keep someone from dying? Well, I guess you came to the right person."

"So you'll help us steal the medicine?" Snivy asks.

"Oh sure, let me just hop out of bed, shake off my second degree burns and I'll have the loot in your hands by tomorrow morning. In all seriousness, I can't directly help you steal it, but I've been part of a few team heists before I went solo. I can help you plan your heist, but that's all."

"Thank you, Krokorok," says Mightyena.

"No problem, but, uh... Jamie, are you sure this won't just blow up in their face? I mean, stealing the stuff I wanted didn't exactly work out for me."

"We don't know, but I think we just need the desire to go away. Once Poochyena's safe, it should-"

"Forget about getting rid of my Wildfire," Mightyena says, "that's not what's important right now. Krokorok, I've tried to steal this medicine three times, so I can provide any necessary information. Now, let's make a plan."

"Alright then."

About 30 minutes later, we're finally wrapping up the plan. "Finally," Krokorok says, "you'll need a getaway. Jamie, Snivy, if those guards see your faces, you might have to leave town, so get everything you'll want to take with you and be ready to run with it."

"Well, we were already planning on leaving soon anyways." Snivy says.

"Escaping shouldn't be an issue," Mightyena says, "those guards might be strong, but I'm much faster; I can outrun them easily, and I can carry Jamie and Snivy."

"Perfect," Krokorok says. "And remember, I had no involvement with this, got it?"

I nod. "Of course."

We head out, Mightyena again leaving through the window. The heist is tonight, and it's noon right now, so we need to get everything ready. Snivy and I decide to say goodbye to everyone and tell them we're leaving tomorrow morning. We get all our stuff from our room at the inn and hide it in a bush near Kecleon's wagon, ready to be grabbed as we make our escape.

First we talk to Audino, and check out of the inn. Next is Torterra. They encourage us to stay, because it's safe in the village and all that. I wonder how they'd react if we told them we were about to become criminals. Finally, we say goodbye to Machop. They beg us to stay just a few more days, so that we can play and spar together once they're ungrounded, and when we decline, they ask us if we'll ever come back to Amari Village. We say yes; it's only after we leave that I remember I'm going back to the human world. Oops. After we finish saying goodbye, all that's left to do is wait for night to come.

Fast forward to about 10:30 pm, and Mightyena and I are hiding in a bush, watching Sawk patrol around Kecleon's wagon. Kecleon is at the inn, so we don't need to worry about them. The wagon is lit by torches, and is out in the open, making it hard to approach stealthily. Still, we have a plan.

We wait until Sawk is turned away, then Mightyena silently rushes forward, with Sawk noticing just in time to get blasted in the face with a glowing red flamethrower attack! Sawk shakes off the flamethrower and calls out to Throh on the other side of the wagon before dashing forward to attack Mightyena. Just according to plan; Throh is slower than Sawk, and will take a few extra seconds to get around the wagon and join the fight. That buys us more time.

I watch silently from the bush as Mightyena and Sawk fight; Mightyena is on the defensive, trying to make distance between themself and Sawk, but Sawk is fast, and keeps up with Mightyena's dodging. Eventually, as Mightyena dodges to the side, Sawk either reacts quickly or predicts it, instantly nailing Mightyena with a kick! Mightyena's a dark-type, and Sawk's a fighting-type. With that disadvantage, it's no wonder Mightyena's failed their last three attempts.

Throh appears from around the wagon, and approaches behind Sawk. Mightyena shoots a flamethrower at them, but Sawk dodges, and Throh blocks it; Throh is tough, and great at defending, so attacking them is pointless. Sawk circles around behind Mightyena, and while Mightyena has their attention split, Sawk lands a punch, knocking Mightyena back into Throh, who grabs them.

The moment I see Mightyena get grabbed, I run out from the bush. Once I'm close enough, I blast a water gun at Throh from the side, and land a direct hit without hurting Mightyena! Sawk turns to see the source of the water, and I get a bit closer before turning around and kicking a mud-slap into Sawk's face, blinding them! Mightyena breaks out of Throh's grab and lands a headbutt on Sawk before retreating and using flamethrower again in a wide, sweeping arc.

Sawk and Throh are forced to block the fire, while Mightyena and I retreat. We look behind us to see Throh grab Sawk and spin around before launching Sawk towards us through the air! We dodge to the side as Sawk flies past us, landing perfectly in front of us. Mightyena fires off another flamethrower, but Sawk dodges it easily. I follow up with a mud-slap and a water gun.

Sawk blocks the mud-slap, but gets caught off guard by the water gun! Sawk seems experienced, but doesn't seem to know how to handle ranged attacks. I'm about to shoot another water gun, when Mightyena suddenly tackles me from the side, sending me rolling away. I look back to see Throh standing where I stood; Mightyena just saved me. Mightyena uses another flamethrower, this time sweeping across the ground. The red fire turns orange as it ignites the grass, creating a wall of flame between us and the enemies.

Once again, Throh throws Sawk into the air, high over the fire. Sawk can't dodge in the air, I realize, and I shoot a water gun at them... and miss. I've been lucky to land this many hits without much practice, but hitting an aerial target is way too hard. My situation goes from bad to worse as I realize Sawk about to land right on me! With no time to dodge, I brace for impact...

When suddenly Mightyena tackles Sawk out of the air! Sawk falls to the ground, and I try to follow up with a water gun, but Sawk immediately gets back up and rolls out of the way. Just as Sawk is about to run towards us, we all freeze as a voice cries out from atop the wagon.

"Guys! I got the medicine! Let's run!" Snivy yells, our plan having worked perfectly! And now, the getaway.

"Jamie, climb on!" Mightyena says, helping me onto their back. Their paws ignite into red flames, and they get a running start before leaping onto the wagon. Snivy hops on, medicine in hand, and Mightyena takes off, leaving the guards behind us.

As we run past the bush Snivy was hiding in, Mightyena smoothly grabs the bags we had placed there before, holding me and Snivy's stuff. They pass it back for us to hold.

"Snivy," Mightyena says, "are you absolutely sure that's the right medicine?''

"Yeah! I could read the label by the torchlight; it's a bottle labled 'Praefoco Medicine', like you said."

"Yes, that's it!!" The fire around Mightyena's paws flares up, and they start running faster. "Hold on tight, we're getting back to Maceria Town tonight!" And hold on tight we do; Mightyena's speed is absurd! Looks like the wildfire is good for more than just fighting.

After a few minutes, we've left the forest and Mightyena is still running at top speed, which Snivy calls attention to. "Hey, uh, I don't think those guards are following us anymore. You don't need to run this fast."

"Yes, I do. With every second that passes, it gets closer to being too late. I made a promise that I would save Poochyena, and I intend to keep it!"

Mightyena sounds confident, but their voice and their breathing make them sound pretty tired. Still, their speed doesn't drop. They run all through the night, and eventually Snivy falls asleep; it's probably way past midnight by now, after all. I'm not sure I could fall asleep if I wanted to, with Mightyena's running, so I stay awake and keep Snivy from falling off.

The night goes on, and eventually, Maceria Town comes into view. Well, sort of; it's surrounded by wooden walls all around, with a big closed gate and... guard towers? It's hard to tell from this distance. I wake up Snivy, telling them that we've arrived. As we approach the town, Mightyena speaks.

"Jamie, Snivy, the gate is closed. Hold on tight; I'm going to jump over it."

"Wait, what?!" Snivy says. "But that thing is huge! You're from here, so they'll open it for you, right? Can't we just wait for them to-"

"I'VE WAITED LONG ENOUGH!"

Heeding their warning, Snivy and I hang on as Mightyena crouches down, and with an explosion of flame at their feet, soars into the air, just barely clearing the giant wooden gate! The landing on the other side is rough, but Mightyena quickly returns to a sprint, running through the empty town streets.

Mightyena runs with confidence and familiarity; left, straight, left, then right, dashing between the buildings and along the roads. Finally, they come to a stop outside a modest house with a door that looks to be modified for quadrupedal pokemon. They open the door and run inside, past a surprised Lilligant and up the stairs, through another door, and into a room containing a small bed, on which an unconscious Poochyena lays perfectly still, not seeming to even breathe.

"Snivy! The medicine!" Mightyena shouts, and Snivy fumbles with the bottle for a moment in surprise before opening it and handing it to Mightyena. They place a single pill into Poochyena's mouth and get them to swallow.

Mightyena sits down in front of Poochyena, and we hop off their back. They read the medicine's directions over and over again, their eyes shifting between the bottle and Poochyena as they quietly mumble to themself. The Lilligant from before walks into the room, and starts questioning Mightyena, but Mightyena doesn't react. The Lilligant seems to know Mightyena.

Soon, Mightyena's Wildfire grows, covering their whole body, and I can here them mutter "please" over and over. The minutes pass, and Poochyena stays perfectly still. Suddenly, Mightyena's ears twitch, and they go silent, their eyes wide. A few seconds later, I see Poochyena's chest just slightly begin to move up, then down, then up.

For the first time, I see Mightyena smile, sobbing over their child. The Wildfire slowly shrinks down to nothing as tears flow from Mightyena's eyes. At last, the Wildfire fizzles out, and Mightyena drops to the ground.


	17. Maceria Town

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For people unfamiliar with pokemon, here are images of the new pokemon that appear in this chapter:  
> [Croagunk](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/f/fa/453Croagunk.png)  
> [Lucario](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/d/d7/448Lucario.png)

After Mightyena fainted, the Lilligant asked me and Snivy some questions about ourselves and what happened. After we explained the situation, they introduced themself as a friend and housemate of Mightyena, trusted with taking care of Poochyena while Mightyena was away. They must have noticed how tired we look after having been awake through 24 hours and a battle, because they offer to let us sleep in their room, while they take the couch. They lead us there, and there's unfortunately only one bed. But it's a big bed, and we are very small and very tired, so we just set our stuff down and go to sleep.

When Snivy wakes me up, it looks to be about mid day outside. We go out into the house and meet with Lilligant again. "Oh, hey there you two. Mudkip and Snivy, right?"

"Actually, my name is Jamie."

"Oh yeah. Sorry 'bout that, Jamie."

"Where's Mightyena?" Snivy asks.

"Last I checked, they're still sleeping. Same for Poochyena. If I know Mightyena, then they were probably awake for days chasing that Kecleon. They'll be out for a while. Anyways, what are you two gonna do now that you're done helping Mightyena?"

A quick conversation later, and we find Lilligant knows nothing about Volomans nor the Wildfire, besides that Mightyena had it.

"Hey Mudkip, let's head out into town and see if anyone knows anything," Snivy says.

"Wait, I thought their name was Jamie?" Lilligant says.

"It is," I say.

"It's complicated," Snivy says.

"No it isn't."

We head into town and get a few suspicious looks, and the pokemon we talk to seem pretty distrustful. Some of them refuse to even talk to us. As usual by now, no one knows anything, besides the few we meet who know Mightyena. After about an hour of asking around and checking out the town, we decide to head back to Mightyena's house.

We go inside to see Lilligant and Mightyena at the table together, and they turn to face us as we enter.

"Oh hey, good timing," Lilligant says. "Mightyena just woke up a few minutes ago."

"Jamie! Snivy!" Mightyena says, starting to walk towards us, but stumbling to the ground as they walk.

"Whoa, dude, take it easy!" Lilligant says rushing to Mightyena's side. "You need to rest, okay?"

Mightyena looks up at their friend and smiles. "Right. Thanks." Mightyena turns back to us, this time staying seated. "Jamie, Snivy, I can't thank you enough for what you did for me. I hate to have put you in danger, but I don't think I could have done it without you." Mightyena begins to tear up, their words interrupted by sobs. "You've saved Poochyena's life. Thank you both so, so much."

I smile as Mightyena thanks us. It feels good, knowing I've saved someone. I felt the same way with Krokorok. I think I could get used to this. After Mightyena calms down, Lilligant helps them back to the table, and invites us to take a seat.

"Mightyena," Lilligant says, "there's something you need to know about that started after you left town. You kids should listen too, since you're outsiders. The day after you left, people started disappearing at night, one by one. No one knows what's happening. Everyone's also getting a bit... excessively suspicious of outsiders, which is why the gate got closed up recently." Oh. Well that explains the way everyone was acting towards us.

Mightyena stares at Lilligant, eyes wide. "Who's disappeared so far?"

"Five people so far, but none of our friends, at least. I heard the news this morning that a little Magby vanished last night..."

"And all they're doing is closing the gate!?"

"Don't get me wrong, everyone's just as concerned as you are; they're already investigating the disappearances for patterns and such, as well as the area outside town, but nothing's been found yet. There are more guards posted all over, and they've set up a curfew. As for you two," Lilligant says, turning to me and Snivy, "you should probably be careful walking around out there. And also, I don't think any inns would be willing to house outsiders, but I think I speak for Mightyena too when I say you're welcome to stay here. Someone will have to sleep on the couch, though..."

"I'll take the couch," Mightyena says. "It's nice to finally be able to sleep at all, and I owe you both, so you can take my bed. It's only one bed, though, so I'm not sure how you'll work that out..."

"Screw it," Lilligant says, "one of you can take my bed again. I'll sleep in a chair. I can't let Mightyena hog all the martyrdom."

Mightyena laughs. "Thank you, Lilligant."

"Yeah, thanks," I say. "We're just about out of money, so we couldn't afford an inn anyways. And with people disappearing, it doesn't seem safe to camp outside."

"Alrighty then! I'm sure you're all hungry after last night, especially you Mightyena, so I'll go get you all some lunch."

A little while later, and we're all eating grilled cheese. It's the first real food I've had since... since I came to this world, actually. It's been a while. Anyways, it's good food, but it feels really different eating a sandwich as a Mudkip. I'm suddenly reminded that I have no teeth.

"Oh yeah!" Snivy suddenly says. "Mightyena, is your Wildfire gone?"

"Oh, um..." Mightyena inhales, then blows a puff of air upward. No flames. "It looks like it is."

"Wait, you couldn't tell? Krokorok said it messed with their head, and their feelings."

"Feelings like... wanting to save Poochyena no matter what?"

"Oh... I guess there wouldn't really be any change, huh?"

We resume eating our sandwiches. Soon, Lilligant finishes and goes out shopping. Snivy and I finish later, and I suggest that we go out and gather some food to restock our supply. Mightyena warns us to be back soon, before sunset at the latest.

We grab our bags and head out. As we reach the edge of the walled-in town, we find a small gateway through the wall, guarded by a Lucario and a Croagunk. As we approach, they move to block us.

"Stop right there!" the Lucario says. "You don't look like you're from here. Where did you come from?"

"We came in with Mightyena last night," says Snivy.

"Wait, Mightyena came back?" the Croagunk says. "When did that happen?"

"Yes, they're back," the Lucario says. "Everyone was talking about it just this morning; they said some 'flame demon' ran through the streets last night, and many thought it might be the culprit of the disappearances. Then, the Lilligant friend of Mightyena's came and said it was Mightyena returning."

"That thing was MIGHTYENA?! I saw that! I thought I'd had a crazy nightmare or something."

"Wait, do you fall asleep on duty?"

"Um, I mean, no, I just-"

"That is unacceptable! For a guard, to sleep while on dury is to endanger the people of this town!"

"Like you're one to talk! I've seen you napping on the job more than once!"

"I- No, you lie!"

The two guards start arguing, Snivy taps me on the shoulder and motions for me to follow them, and we slip through the gateway unnoticed. Leaving the town behind, we head towards a grove to start looking for berries.


	18. Outside

As we exit the town and enter a nearby grove, we quickly find a bush of berries and start picking and filling up our bags. After a few seconds, Snivy sighs with relief. "I think I've had about enough of villages and towns lately. It's nice to be out in the wilderness again, even if just for a while."

"I don't know. I kinda like having a real bed to sleep in."

"Yeah, of course that's good, but... all the walls and buildings and noise get kinda tiring after a while, don't you think?"

"Yeah, good point. And it sorta has a nice style to it. Being outside, I mean. Camping out and gathering our own food. It's sorta... cool. Relying on no one but ourselves."

"You mean no one but each other, right?"

"Right! We are partners, after all."

"Yeah! And I agree with you about the style part; the independence, and the natural feel of it all, it's part of what made me want to be an explorer! The total solitude was a bit much, though."

We get everything we can from the bush and look for another. We find a really huge bush with a bunch of berries, so we spread out and start picking. But as we start to pick, we find that most of them are overripe and mushy. We keep trying to find good ones, until Snivy grabs a berry and it bursts in their hand. "Argh! What are these mushy things even good for?!"

Snivy keeps picking, but I suddenly get a very... immature idea. I carefully pick up a berry with my stubby Mudkip arm. It's big and squishy. Definitely overripe. I prepare the berry in my arm, and with perfect precision...

I throw it right at Snivy's face!

The berry splatters against Snivy's face, leaving a big splat of juice on their cheek. Snivy turns to me in shock, and I burst out laughing! The whole moment was just too perfect, and I'm laughing so hard I can't keep my eyes open! But then I realize I don't hear Snivy laughing. I try to stop laughing so I can apologize; I didn't mean to-

SPLAT!

I suddenly feel an impact on my face, and I open my eyes to see Snivy smirking at me, their arm extended from the berry they just threw. They reach over to the bush to grab another one, and I'm just barely able to duck under it in time when they throw it.

I try to grab and throw another berry from the bush, but it's too hard without proper hands, and in my haste it ends up bursting in my grasp. Meanwhile, Snivy hits me with another berry, and I start to run away to another part of the bush. I manage to grab another berry, and I turn and throw it at Snivy just in time to see Snivy throwing a berry at me! Both our berries hit, and I flinch as the berry splats across my face.

I run a bit further down the bush and grab another berry. I almost drop it for a moment, but I manage to keep hold of it. I turn to throw it at Snivy, and I see a terrifying sight; Snivy is holding four berries, one in each hand and each vine! I throw my berry at them, and they jump over it, and once in the air, they bombard me with a brutal barrage of bursting berries!

As the berries hit their mark, I clutch at the spots they hit me, crying out in agony! I stumble forward, reaching out in front of me before dramatically collapsing at Snivy's feet...

Silence falls over the grove like a blanket as I lay there, killed in cold blood by my own partner. Our wonderful tale of adventure and friendship ended in an instant of betrayal and tragedy. Finally, the silence is broken... as I start to giggle. It starts small, as I try to keep quiet, but I can't hold it in for long, and my giggles turn to full laughter. Snivy starts laughing along with me, and we spend a good 30 seconds just lying there laughing together on the forest floor.

When we finally calm down, I look at myself and at Snivy; we're really messy after all that. "Heh, that was, uh... pretty immature, huh?" I say with a smile.

Snivy smiles back at me. "Immature and childish are just dumb words that people use to make having fun sound like a bad thing."

"... Huh. I never thought about it like that."

Eventually, we get up and find a pond that we use to wash all the berry juice off. My Joy Scarf got messy too, and I have to take it off to clean it. I've been wearing it almost since I first came to this world; it's almost as familiar to me as this Mudkip body. After I clean it off, Snivy helps me put it back on, as this body still doesn't have much dexterity.

Soon enough, we get back to picking berries and fill up our bag. It's just starting to get dark, we head back to the gateway we came out through to get back to Mightyena's house, but when we get to the gateway, we're stopped by the Croagunk from before.

"Hey! What do you two think you're doing?!"

"Um, going back in?" I say.

"No," the Lucario says. "Outsiders are not allowed to enter the town."

"What?!" Snivy says. "But we were just inside earlier!"

"Too bad, brats!" the Croagunk says. "Now you're out, and you ain't getting back in, so scram!"

"But wait!" I say. "What about the people disappearing? It's not safe for us to be out here!"

"As I said, too bad!"

"This is stupid!" Snivy says. "Let us talk to Mightyena, they'll tell you that you can trust us!"

"My deepest apologies," the Lucario says sarcastically, "but we're not allowed to leave our posts. And regardless, we have no reason to believe that you came in with Mightyena!"

"Now as I said, SCRAM!" the Croagunk repeats.

"Fine!" Snivy says, walking away. "C'mon, let's go find another way in."

But as much as we search, all we find are more guarded gateways, and no one is willing to let two outsiders in. At this point, the sun has set, and the curfew is in effect; if Mightyena has realized we aren't back yet, it's too late for them to come looking for us now. We decide to camp out in the grove and sleep in shifts. Maybe we'll be okay; all the people who have disappeared so far have been inside the town, so maybe it isn't any more dangerous out here, right?

Luckily, we brought all our bags, so we have our tent and supplies. We eat dinner and set up the tent, then Snivy takes first watch; they got some extra sleep on the ride here, so they're the less tired of the two of us.

It's hard to fall asleep; I'm scared. It totally IS more dangerous out here, and even though only one person has disappeared per night, that still means either me or Snivy is going to vanish! Might vanish, at least. Every time I almost drift off, I'm startled awake by the smallest sound. Finally, I give up.

"Hey Snivy?" I whisper, hearing a small yelp outside the tent, followed by a sigh of relief.

"Y-yeah Mudkip?"

"I can't sleep. I'm coming out to keep watch with you."

"Oh. Okay."

I exit the tent and walk out into the grove. It's really dark; it's almost hard to see Snivy, right in front of me. "So, how's your night going?" I ask, taking a seat next to Snivy.

"Awful. I can't stand being out here, alone, in the dark, with SOMETHING out there that wants to- I'm glad you're here, is what I mean."

"Yeah, it's nice to have someone to talk to. Only one person has disappeared at a time, so maybe we'll be safe together?"

"Right. I don't even feel very tired. After staying up last night and sleeping 'til noon, I think our sleeping schedule is busted."

"Heh, yeah."

"... Oh!" Snivy suddenly stands up and takes a few steps forward. "Follow me, I want to show you something."

"Are you sure? I don't think it's safe to be wandering around at night..."

"We'll be fine as long as we stick together. It'll be fun! Do you want to come?"

I hesitantly accept; it'll get pretty boring just staying awake all night, so I follow Snivy out of the grove. Once we're out from the cover of the trees, Snivy flops down on their back and looks at me.

"C'mon, lay down and look at the stars with me!"

"You just wanted to go stargazing?"

"Well yeah! With everything happening lately, I haven't had a good chance to look at the stars since... since I met you, actually! It's really been a while, huh?"

"Heh, yeah, it has." I lay down on my back next to Snivy. It's a clear, cloudless night, and the starry sky is beautiful. I never paid much attention to constellations and stuff, so it looks pretty much the same as the sky back home, but it's still beautiful. It feels... peaceful, just silently staring at the stars with Snivy. Then something grabs my hand.

I pull away with a quiet yelp before realizing it was just Snivy.

"Sorry!" Snivy says. "It's just that without us talking, I... needed to know you were still there."

"Oh, yeah, that's a good idea." We continue to lay there, holding hands. It feels weird, especially because of my weird Mudkip stub hands, but it's nice to have a reminder that Snivy's still there. Soon, Snivy starts talking again.

"I used to do this all the time back home. I would sneak out alone at night and just lay down on a nice hilltop, staring at the stars. It's nice to be able to do this again, although this is my first time stargazing with someone else. It's nice, right?"

"Yeah, it's beautiful. I can see why you wanted to do this."

We fall silent again for a while.

"... Hey partner," Snivy says, "I..."

"... Yeah?"

"Uh, sorry, I just... I'm glad I'm not alone out here anymore."

"Oh. Well, you're welcome."

Our silence resumes, and we lay there for about 10 minutes more. Once again, Snivy is the one to break the silence.

"Hey... do you hear footsteps?" they whisper.

"What?" I listen closely, and sure enough, I hear slow footsteps, somewhere in the distance. I sit up, and Snivy sits up with me. Looking for the source of the sound, we see a shadowy figure... stumbling forward?

We get up and go to check it out from a distance. It looks like they're sleepwalking. They look bipedal, and as we get closer, we find... the Croagunk from the gateway? What is going on?? They're walking towards a small cave entrance. We call out to them, but they don't react. Finally, Snivy runs over and grabs their arm.

"Hey! Are you awake?"

"Uhhh... Huh?" The Croagunk looks around. "Huh?? HUH?!? Where am I, what's going- wait, you're the kid from earlier! You tell me what's going on right now!"

"I don't know! We saw you walking towards that cave. You looked like you were sleepwalking."

"Yeah, likely story! And what's this about a ca-" Croagunk stops as they turn and see the cave. "GAH! What am I doing HERE?!"

"Wait," I say, "is there something special about that cave?"

"That's the Violet Void! No one's allowed to even be NEAR that place! I gotta get outta here!" The Croagunk runs off back towards the town in a panic. I turn back towards the cave, and I get a familiar feeling.

"Hey Snivy, that cave's a..."

"Mystery dungeon, yeah. Do you think that's where..."

'Where everyone disappeared to, maybe?"

"Yeah..."

"... Think we should go in there? If that is where everyone's gone, then maybe that daze Croagunk was in is how they got here."

"And since we're fully conscious, we should be fine, and we might be able to rescue them, right?'

"Right."

We head back to the tent and grab our stuff, then we return and enter the mystery dungeon.


	19. Violet Void

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For people unfamiliar with pokemon, here are images of the new pokemon that appear in this chapter:  
> [Drowzee](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/3/3e/096Drowzee.png)  
> [Purrloin](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/4/46/509Purrloin.png)  
> [Sableye](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/d/d3/302Sableye.png)  
> [Monferno](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/2/2e/391Monferno.png)  
> [Magby](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/c/cb/240Magby.png)

I walk through the corridors of the mystery dungeon behind Snivy, our path lit by brightly glowing purple crystals scattered everywhere from the floor to the ceiling of the cave.

"It's been awhile since our last mystery dungeon, huh?" Snivy says.

"Yeah. It'd be kinda cool to be exploring again, if not for all the people disappearing."

"You said it."

We walk in silence for a few second, and I notice a larger crystal on the ground with a darker color, more like the violet of the cave's name. I run my hand over it as we walk past, and it just feels... magical. Magical and smooth. Mystery dungeons are cool.

"You know," Snivy says, "even with everything going on, I'm glad we're exploring again."

I silently listen to Snivy, but I start to feel really weird. I feel... light. It gets hard for me to stay on the ground, and as Snivy keeps talking, I start to float up into the air!

"I'd dreamed for months about how cool it'd be to be an explorer, and the whole adventure has been a dream come true! The adrenaline I feel in battles, the beautiful sights of the dungeons, and everything else too! Do you feel that way too, Mudki-" Snivy turns around to look at me, but sees nothing. "AHH! H-hey, partner?! Where are you!? Please, say something! I don't want to-"

"Um, up here," I call from the ceiling.

Snivy looks up at me, panic turning to confusion. "Wha- Mudkip?"

"My name is Jamie."

"How did you get up there?! I was really scared!"

"Sorry about that. I touched one of those big violet crystals, and I think that made me float up here?"

"Like, um, one of these?" Snivy walks over to a crystal and touches it.

A few seconds pass, and nothing happens.

"... I don't think it's- whoa!" Snivy suddenly starts slowly floating upward, gradually increasing in speed before landing on their head on the ceiling. "Whoa... what happened?"

"Hmm..." I try jumping. It feels exactly like normal jumping, except upside down. "I think gravity reversed for us somehow?"

Snivy's eyes go wide as they stand up and look around. They start jumping and running all over the place, laughing all the way. "We're upside down, we're upside down!" Suddenly, Snivy stops. "... How do we get back down?"

"Hmm... Maybe it'll wear off?"

"Or maybe..." Snivy walks over to a violet crystal on the ceiling and touches it. A moment later, and they're floating back towards the ground. Snivy jumps a few times to test the gravity. "Hey, do you wanna come down here?"

"Nah, I think I'll stay upside down awhile."

"Cool."

Snivy and I continue walking through the cave, chatting. It's oddly uneventful; usually some wild pokemon would have attacked us by now. We come across some forks in the path, and occasionally there's a small cliff that forces one of us to change gravity to pass. Eventually, we come across some wild pokemon... kinda?

We encounter two Purrloin and a Drowzee dancing in a circle on the ceiling. Or the floor. We're starting to lose track. They don't seem to notice us, and just keep doing a simple little dance where they just hop in a circle. Snivy touches a crystal and floats up to check it out.

Snivy gets really close and even starts touching them, but they just keep dancing. "This is really weird," Snivy calls down to me. Or up. "Their eyes are kinda glowing red. I think they're being mind controlled."

"Hey, that's kinda like what happened to that Croagunk, right? What do you think might be causing it?"

"Well, it could be something about the dungeon. Croagunk did say it was off-limits, so maybe this is why."

"I don't think so. This only started happening just recently. If this had happened before, the townspeople would already know what's going on. Something must have changed..."

"Well anyways, these pokemon don't seem to want to fight at all. Let's keep going, yeah?"

So we keep walking, tossing around ideas for about a minute before we hear footsteps. It sounds like someone running towards us. We get ready, and I soon see a Sableye running at me! It jumps at me with a scratch, but I jump back and kick a mud-slap at it!

It's stunned long enough for Snivy to grab it from above and lift it up, leaving it wide open for me to attack! I blast it with a water gun, and then Snivy throws the Sableye into the ground, and it evaporates into smoke.

"Nice move, Snivy!"

"Thanks! So it looks like there are normal Wild pokemon around here after all."

"But not many..."

We resume walking until Snivy suddenly stops and calls down to me from above. Or below. "Hey, look at that hole in the wall!"

I look where they point and indeed see a small hole in the wall. Snivy runs and taps a crystal. "Hang on, I'll check it out!" they say, floating down to the hole and using their vines to pull themself in. A few moments later, and they pop back out, dropping down next to me. "It's already been looted!"

"What?"

"There was a treasure chest in there, but it was already open, and empty!"

"Wild pokemon don't loot treasure chests, do they?"

"Nope. I asked the explorers that visited my home that question once, and they said they'd never seen anything like that. Someone else must be in here..."

"Someone who can mind control people."

"Probably."

We walk a little further before coming across possibly the strangest sight yet; a Monferno floating up, landing on a crystal on the ceiling, floating back down, then landing on a crystal on the floor, over and over. We get closer to check it out. Up close, we see its eyes glowing red like the others, and we hear them whispering to themself: "don't touch the ground... until master comes back... don't touch the ground... until master comes back..."

Snivy turns to me. "Mind control?"

I nod. "Mind control." There's really no doubt at this point.

"I think this is one of the townspeople..." Snivy walks over to the Monferno, and before they land on the crystal once again, Snivy grabs them with their vines and pulls them off course, causing them to land on the ground. The Monferno starts weakly struggling, trying to walk back to the crystal.

"no... can't touch the ground... can't touch the ground..."

"Hey, snap out of it!" Snivy says, shaking the Monferno. The Monferno doesn't react, continuing to try to get back to the crystal. "Hey Mudkip, try using water gun."

"Yeah, good idea." I open my mouth and fire a small water gun at the Monferno's face. It reacts with pain, but afterwards just keeps weakly struggling towards the crystal. Snivy sighs and releases it, and it resumes bouncing between floor and ceiling.

"Hey, you know a lot about different kinds of pokemon, right? Are there any that can do something like this?"

"Hmm... I never heard of anything like this back on Earth, but if there were a pokemon that could do this, it'd definitely be psychic type."

"Oh yeah, that would make sense. But whatever this pokemon is, why are they doing this? They aren't even doing anything with the pokemon they mind control, just making them dance or do... whatever that Monferno is doing. I don't get it."

"Yeah... I guess we might find out soon; we've gotten pretty deep in here."

"Right. Let's keep movin- wait, what's that?" Snivy points towards a figure deeper in the cave, walking down a side path. It probably saw us, but it doesn't seem to care about us. Probably another mind control victim.

We decide to follow it, and as we get closer, we see that it's a Magby, the pokemon who got taken just last night. Snivy grabs them, and all they do is keep trying to walk forward. They're holding some berries, which they probably gathered from around the dungeon. After a failed attempt to shake them out of their trance, Snivy releases them and we follow them to what at first appears to be a dead end. The Magby taps a crystal and floats up to a small tunnel in the wall... and misses it, falling up to the ceiling. Or the floor. We've totally lost track.

It takes a few attempts, but eventually the Magby manages to get into the tunnel. Snivy and I follow, with Snivy getting in first and pulling me in with their vines. We quietly follow the Magby through the tunnel, hoping they'll lead us to the mastermind behind all this...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be starting college again very soon. Updates might slow down or stop until June 13th. Sorry to leave y'all on a cliff hanger. I'll try to keep writing, but no promises.


	20. Ralts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For people unfamiliar with pokemon, here are images of the new pokemon that appear in this chapter (none of them are very important besides Ralts):  
> [Ralts](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/e/e1/280Ralts.png)  
> [Pinsir](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/7/71/127Pinsir.png)  
> [Roselia](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/f/f1/315Roselia.png)  
> [Wooloo](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/1/1f/831Wooloo.png)  
>   
> An old version of this chapter was uploaded on 4/8/2020. It sucked, so I replaced it. The scene after the fight has been greatly changed. Everything else is the same.

Snivy and I crawl through the tunnel after the mind controlled Magby, ready to confront the pokemon behind the disappearances. We near the end of the tunnel, and the Magby ahead of us tries to carefully drop down to the floor without falling. As we wait, we hear an... interesting voice.

It's a high pitched voice, like a little kid. For an instant, I think it might be a victim of the mind controlling pokemon, but... "Hey, you! Get me a berry, I'm starving over here!"

The childish voice is answered by a lower voice that simply says "yes master..."

Finally, the Magby drops down, clumsily falling down and apparently attracting the attention of the voice. "Oh, you're finally back. Well get down here already, stop wasting time on the ceiling! And you, Pinsir, hurry up with that berry!"

From inside the tunnel, we see the Magby float up to the ceiling. Or the floor. We've lost track. Snivy and I crawl to the edge of the tunnel to get a look at our mind controller. We see a large chamber, and look up to see a Ralts, sitting on top of a Wooloo. Off to the side, a Roselia is doing a simple dance, and over by a large bag, a Pinsir is grabbing a handful of berries and bringing them to the Ralts.

This is the mastermind behind the disappearances?

Eventually, the Pinsir brings the berries back to the Ralts. The Ralts stands up and smacks the berries out of Pinsir's hands, scattering them across the floor. "What don't you understand about 'a berry'? As in ONE?! And I want a blue berry, not any of that!"

The Pinsir begins walking back to the bag. Meanwhile, the Ralts turns towards the dancing Roselia. "And you. Do a different dance, I'm bored of that one." The Roselia obeys, changing to a different, simple dance. Satisfied, the Ralts jumps backwards onto their Wooloo seat, causing the Wooloo to give a small cry of pain, which the Ralts ignores.

Magby, Pinsir, Roselia, Wooloo, and the Monferno from earlier makes five pokemon, accounting for all the pokemon missing from Maceria Town. Now we just need to figure out a way to rescue them...

The Pinsir returns to the Ralts, presenting a blue Rawst Berry. The Ralts stands up again and waves their hand, sending a blast of glowing red fire at the Pinsir that launches it across the room. "Oran berry! Get me an Oran Berry! How obvious do I have to be!?"

"no... more... oran..." the battered Pinsir responds.

"Well then go out and find one!"

The Magby we followed walks up to Ralts, presenting an Oran berry. "Oh, I'm sorry," Ralts says, taking the berry from Magby, "did I ask YOU for an Oran berry?" The Magby shakes their head. "Exactly!" Ralts throws the berry to the ground and stomps on it.

Meanwhile, the Pinsir taps a crystal and begins heading towards the tunnel. Snivy and I duck back inside as the Pinsir enters, but they don't seem to care about us, and just walk past us. After the Pinsir leaves, Snivy beckons me deeper into the tunnel.

"What do you think we should do?" Snivy whispers. "That red flame was Wildfire, right? And that Ralts is a little kid! But they seem... really mean. Almost evil, I think. I don't know how we could reason with them. Should we... attack?"

"I... I think so. That mind control power looks really dangerous; if they can catch us with that, we're toast. We can't afford to let our guard down. And you're right, I don't think they'd listen to us. Let's knock them out and bring them back to Maceria town, then we can try talking to them."

"Alright. I think we should wait until they're distracted, then switch gravity and drop onto them from above."

"Sounds good."

We wait near the tunnel exit, just out of sight, and listen. Eventually, we hear Ralts get bored of the Roselia's dancing again, and we quietly drop down and look for a crystal. Finding one just below Roselia and Ralts, Snivy drops down, followed by me. Snivy starts spinning in the air, a whirlwind of leaves gathering around their tail, and with perfect timing, they slam their leaf tornado into Ralts, sending them tumbling away!

I shoot a water gun at Ralts, but they teleport off to the side before they even see my attack. They turn to us with a look of fear, but it quickly turns to anger. "You're the ones who meddled in my recruitment tonight, aren't you! How dare you enter my-"

I interrupt Ralts with a water gun, but they react quickly and teleport backward. With a wave of their hand, a wide blast of red fire comes towards us! Snivy and I brace ourselves as the fire reaches us, but it feels weaker than Krokorok's fire. I guess Wildfire or not, this Ralts is still a little kid. Still, Snivy looks hurt.

I dash toward Ralts while Snivy stays behind to heal with an oran berry. Ralts retreats and taps a crystal, teleporting as they do so. I look upward, and Ralts is standing on the ceiling, smirking. I tap the crystal and jump up to follow them, but while I'm in the air, Ralts hits me with another blast of fire, and I crash land.

Ralts runs over to another crystal, tapping it and teleporting back to the floor; I think I'm starting to understand their game plan. They keep blasting fire at Snivy, but Snivy manages to mostly dodge it. Snivy closes in, and as Ralts runs away to another crystal, I run to the area directly below (or maybe above) the crystal.

Sure enough, Ralts teleports right in front of me, and I see a look of panic on their face before I tackle into them, sending them tumbling! I follow up with a water gun, and it's a direct hit! I run forward to keep attacking, but a wall of flame suddenly erupts between me and Ralts. Ralts dives for a crystal, and teleports away the moment they touch it.

Snivy saw what I did, and I look up to see them waiting just above the crystal Ralts used, but Ralts doesn't appear there. Instead, they appear closer to the center of the room, looking kinda off balance. Snivy runs towards them, but they wave their hand at Snivy and use a strange attack. It doesn't look like fire, but more like a glowing red wave of energy. Snivy braces themself, but it seems to pass through them harmlessly.

I run towards the area under Ralts and shoot a water gun at them, but the distance from the floor to the ceiling means that by the time it hits, it's about as effective as a squirt gun; annoying, but nothing more.

Ralts staggers backward in surprise, then wipes the water from their face. "Cut it out already! Can't you see you've lost?!"

"What?" I see Ralts smirk before they look away from me and turn to- "Snivy?!"

Snivy is standing there, staring blankly ahead with a faint red glow in their eyes. Ralts walks up to Snivy. "Sit down," Ralts commands. Snivy obeys, sitting on the ground. "Tell your friend who your master is."

Snivy down at me from the ceiling, an empty expression on their face. "my master... is ralts..."

Ralts bursts into laughter. "Oh, this is just hilarious! You two though you were so strong, you though you could just come in here and take down me. ME! You two are a joke. Hey slave, tell me a joke."

"... why did the chicken..."

"A GOOD joke."

"...... knock knock..."

"Never mind. Hey, stand on one foot." Snivy obeys, and Ralts starts pushing them around, forcing Snivy to desperately hop on one foot to stay balanced. As Ralts starts to mess around with Snivy, I quietly walk over to a crystal.

I tap the crystal and try to land as softly as I can. Ralts is just standing there, their back to me, watching Snivy. I slowly inch closer and closer, and once I'm in range, I shoot a water gun at Ralts!

Just before it hits, I see the familiar sight of Ralts teleporting; they predicted my attack. I look around, turning behind me just in time to see a glowing red wave of energy hit me head on!

I start to feel my body go limp, and I'm suddenly feeling tired... No! Snivy was caught off-guard, but I can resist it... maybe...

I see the Ralts walk up to me. "Huh? Oh wow, I guess you were ready for it. C'mon, stop resisting! Aren't you feeling sooo tiiiired~?"

I close my eyes and try to ignore them, but their words mess with my head; suddenly, I want to stop resisting, and I really am feeling so... tired... No, I need to resist... but why... why would I want to resist... What do I want... I want... To get back home! I have to resist because I want to go home! I want to go back to my world and sleep in my room and eat human food! With my teeth, and my fingers, and my human body!! I NEED TO GET BACK HOME!!!

Suddenly, I can move my body again! Ralts' influence is fading from my head, and I open my eyes to see Ralts taking fearful steps backward.

"H-hey, what's going on?! How are you doing that?!?"

I lunge forward with renewed strength, and Ralts just barely teleports out of the way in time to dodge. I turn to see them next to a crystal, tapping it and starting to float. I dash over, tapping the crystal before leaping after Ralts, catching them in the air and making them crash land a few meters away. I open my mouth to blast them-

And a stream of glowing red fire hits Ralts dead-on.

My surprise is interrupted by Ralts' cry of pain. I have the Wildfire. Perfect, that should make this easy. Ralts gets up and runs towards a crystal, but I'm faster now, and I dash ahead of them and land a tackle, knocking them away from the crystal. I run up to them and prepare to use another flame thrower... and I hesitate.

It takes me a moment to realize why, but then I hear Ralts' voice. "Wait! Please! I give up! You win, okay, j-just please don't hurt me!"

I didn't consciously notice Ralts' expression, but now I see it; since the moment I broke out of their control, their face has been pure terror and panic, and tears have started rolling down their cheeks. I take a moment so shake myself out of my rage and calm down.

Ralts continues begging, their tough, confident act completely gone. "I'll, I'll release your friend, and I can make the others do whatever you want, okay? Whatever you want, I'll do it!"

I take a deep breath and consider what to do. "... Okay, let's go and release Snivy. Then we'll... then we'll talk.

We switch gravity and head over to Snivy. Ralts places a hand on their head, and after a second, the red glow vanishes from Snivy's eyes, and Ralts steps back, still afraid.

As Snivy regains control, they lose their balance and almost fall over. They steady themself and rub their head, groaning, before noticing me and Ralts. "Ugh... Huh? Mudkip? What happened? Did... did we win?"

I flinch at Snivy calling me 'Mudkip'. I'm about to respond, but Ralts beats me to it. "Yes! You win, so we're done fighting, right?" Ralts looks to me with a nervous smile.

I turn to Snivy. "Um, you got mind controlled, and then, uh, I won." I decide to wait to tell them about my Wildfire until later.

"Uh, are you sure Ralts won't just mind control us again?" Snivy asks.

"Yeah, that won't be a problem. Anyways," I say, turning to Ralts, "we need to talk. Why did you mind control these people?"

"Huh? Um... because it's fun?"

"But it's not fair!" Snivy says.

"What? Yes it is; I'm stronger than them, so I can do whatever I want to them."

"What? No! Why in the world would you think that?!"

Ralts takes a step back, their expression showing their fear. I turn to Snivy. "Calm down!" I should take my own advice, though; I'm also having trouble keeping calm.

Snivy sees Ralts' fear, and realizes their mistake. "Right, sorry... Um, Ralts, why are you in this cave? Are you from Maceria Town?"

"Um, no, I'm not. I ran away from home, and I took shelter in this cave and found out I could use my powers to control people, so I started getting people from the town to come here.

Ran away from home? That doesn't sound good... "Why did you run away?" I ask. "Did something bad happen to your home?"

"Uh, no. My family kicked me out when they found out about my fire powers. They called me a monster, and told me to go away..."

Snivy and I exchange glances. "How did you get your powers?" Snivy asks.

"Well..." Ralts slows down, seemingly thinking about how to explain it. "My... Back home, I lived with my parents and my two older siblings. My siblings would always bully me; stealing my stuff and breaking it, making fun of me, and forcing me do their chores and stuff. And whenever I went to my parents, they'd always just ignore it, and I'd get in trouble for whining. But one day, I heard that there was a genie visiting town, and they were gonna grant people's wishes!"

"Wait a sec," Snivy says, "a genie?"

"Y-yeah! You know, the things that, um, grant wishes..."

"What? No way, genies aren't real."

Ralts looks down in shame and falls silent. They seem used to being shot down. I turn to Snivy. "Snivy, stop interrupting."

"Oh, right, sorry..."

"So Ralts," I say, "what happened with the genie?"

"Um, well, I went to the genie, and I wished to be strong, strong enough that my siblings couldn't boss me around! The genie gave me these fire powers, and I finally stood up to my siblings! But when everyone found out about my new powers, they all hated me, and wanted me to go away..."

I take a moment to think about Ralts' story. "... Ralts, it was mean for your siblings to boss you around and stuff, right?"

"Huh? Y-yeah, of course it was!"

"So then, aren't you being mean by bossing all these other pokemon around?"

"What? N-no, that's not true! I got bossed around a ton, so now it's only fair that I get to have a turn! I deserve this!"

"Ralts, you-" I start to raise my voice, and stop. I take a deep breath. "... These people are suffering. It's not fair to them for you to-"

"Oh yeah? Well LIFE isn't fair! I had to suffer too, so why shouldn't they?!"

"Because you-!"

As I start to yell, Snivy puts a hand on my shoulder. I look back to Ralts; their expression is angry, and their Wildfire is starting to flare up, but... despite all that, their eyes are starting to tear up again. I once again take a deep breath. "It wasn't fair that your siblings made you suffer; it was cruel and awful, and you deserve to be happy after what you've been through. But these other pokemon deserve to be happy, too. Making them suffer doesn't make anything better for you, it only makes everything worse."

"No... no! I'm- I'm nothing like my siblings! I'm not like them, I-" Ralts looks around at the pokemon in the room, their gaze finally falling on the burned and battered Pinsir. "I... I'm worse. They were right, weren't they? I really am a monster. They were right-"

"No." Ralts is interrupted by Snivy. "They're the monsters, not you. They're the ones who were cruel, who hurt you just because they could. They're the ones who taught you to take advantage of people weaker than you. You were hurt, and scared, and you were shown over and over, by your siblings and by your parents, that the strong get to rule the weak. They're the monsters." Snivy takes a step forward, their anger fading. "But you don't have to be like them. You can be kind. You can help people who are hurting! You can make sure no one has to suffer like you did! You don't need to be like your family, you can just... leave them behind, and go your own way. You don't have to hurt people."

Ralts looks up at Snivy, blinking the tears from their eyes. "I... no, I can't," they say, looking away. "It's too late now; I already hurt all these people. Everyone's gonna hate me again..." Ralts starts to sniffle and sob.

I try to think of how to fix this situation... and I remember Croagunk. "Wait, Ralts! You took the townspeople here by controlling them from a distance and making them walk here, right?"

Between sniffles, Ralts answers, "Y-yeah?"

"And Snivy," I say, "do you remember anything at all from while you were controlled?"

"Um, no, I don't..." Snivy thinks, and seems to connect the same dots I did. "Oh, I see!"

I smile. "Ralts, we have a plan."


	21. Everyone is Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For people unfamiliar with pokemon, here is the new pokemon that appears in this chapter): [Hariyama](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/6/6f/297Hariyama.png)  
>   
> An old version of this chapter was uploaded on 4/11/2020. It, and the old version of chapter 20, have been deleted and reuploaded because I didn't like the backstory of Ralts, so I redid it.

Snivy and I finally exit the Violet Void, with the five townspeople and Ralts following behind us. It was night when we went in, but now it looks like the sun is just starting to rise. After we exit, we start to hear a far away voice calling out. As we get closer, we recognize it as Mightyena!

"Jamie! Snivy! Where are you?!"

"Mightyena! Over here!" Snivy calls out, running into the forest towards the voice, with me chasing after them. We enter the forest, and it only takes a few seconds before we spot Mightyena.

"Jamie! Snivy!" Mightyena says. "I'm so glad you're okay! Lilligant and I were so wor...ried..." Mightyena trails off, staring behind us. I turn to see the six pokemon from the dugneon had followed us into the forest. "What... what HAPPENED last night?!" Mightyena asks.

"That's, uh, quite the story," Snivy says. "We'll explain later, let's just get these guys back into town first."

We get moving and meet up with Lilligant, who was also out looking for us, before heading back inside Maceria Town. Mightyena and Lilligant get the guards to let us back in, and the townspeople all thank us and go home, with Ralts staying with us. Mightyena and Lilligant lead us to the mayor's office to report what had happened. The guards there let us in; word of what happened was already spreading through the town.

After a brief delay, we enter the office. It's a big place, though not as big as Elder Torterra's house back in Amari Village. Sitting at the desk is a tall Hariyama. "Welcome," they say, speaking to Mightyena and Lilligant. "I just heard from a messenger that the missing pokemon have returned. I'm told you're here because you know something about that?"

"Yes, we are," Mightyena says. "These two came out from the Violet Void with the missing townspeople. They'll tell you what happened."

"These two are outsiders. How can you be sure we can trust them?"

Mightyena's voice grows defensive. "They put themselves in harm's way to save my child, and expected nothing in return. I guarantee they are trustworthy."

"Hmm... Alright. You two, I don't believe we've been introduced. My name is Hariyama."

"I'm Snivy!" Snivy replies.

"My name's Jamie."

Hariyama raises an eyebrow as I say my name, and I tense up. Luckily, they don't question it. "Alright then. Tell me everything you know about the incident, especially what happened last night, in the Violet Void."

Snivy turns to me, and I go over my script in my head once more before speaking. "Last night, we saw a Croagunk walking towards the cave. When we went to check it out, it seemed like they were sleepwalking, and we woke them up. Then they went back to town. We thought something suspicious was going on in the cave, so we went inside to check it out."

I notice Ralts shuffle uncomfortably by my side. I continue. "After getting pretty deep into the cave, we came across a wild pokemon, a Hypno, surrounded by the townspeople. The townspeople all seemed to be mind controlled. We fought the Hypno and defeated it, and we were able to wake up the townspeople. Then we led them out of the dungeon."

Hariyama considers our story. It's pretty solid; the people Ralts controls don't remember their time under Ralts' control, and since they were all made to sleepwalk into the cave, they never actually saw Ralts. When we had Ralts undo the mind control, we gave them the same story.

"I see," Hariyama says. "And this Hypno; it won't just start controlling people again, will it?"

"Nope," Snivy says. "It was a wild pokemon, and wild pokemon vanish when they're beaten. Wild pokemon as powerful and special as that one are really rare, so you probably won't have another problem like this any time soon, if ever again."

"Good, good. And what about that little one there?" Hariyama says, pointing to Ralts. "They are an outsider, correct? Are they with you?"

"No," I say. "This is Ralts. They are an outsider, but they're not with us. We found them last night in the dungeon, mind controlled along with the townspeople."

"Ah, I see. Are you planning on taking them back to their home?"

"Um, that's a little... complicated. And personal. We were hoping to find a new home for them, with someone who will take care of them."

"I don't think you'll have much luck here; there aren't many in this town looking to raise a child."

"Oh, that's too bad."

"Well then, I believe that wraps up everything; all five missing pokemon are back, and the source of the disappearances is taken care of. I suppose Maceria Town can go back to normal now, thanks to you two. I welcome you to stay in our town as long as you like. Now, is there anything else you wanted to discuss?"

I've got nothing, so I turn to Snivy to see if they have anything to add.

"Nah," Snivy says, "that's all."

"Very well. Farewell, Snivy and Jamie, and good luck finding a home for Ralts."

We say our goodbyes and head back to Mightyena's house. Once we're inside, I decide to bring up the topic of Ralts to Mightyena. "Hey Mightyena?"

"Yes, Jamie?"

"Would you want to take care of Ralts? You're a great parent, so I know they'd be safe with you..."

"Hey hold up," Lilligant chimes in. "I know you said it was 'personal' but what about Ralts' parents? Are they... okay?"

"Well, Ralts' family is... They're not good people. Ralts really shouldn't go back there."

"Oh, I see." Mightyena thinks for a while. "Hmm... Well, it hasn't been too difficult raising Poochyena, aside from the recent incident. What do you think, Lilligant? Would you be willing to help me raise another child?"

"Sheesh," Lilligant replies, "you're gonna have a whole village of these little guys if you keep up like this. Sure, I'll help."

Mightyena turns to me. "We can at least give Ralts a foster home. If it doesn't work out, I'll find them a new home."

"Thanks. If you end up looking for someone to adopt Ralts, check Amari Village; there are plenty of nice people there. Oh, and, um... you'll make sure Poochyena is nice to Ralts, right?"

"Of course. I'll make sure that Ralts has a kind and loving home here."

"Great, thanks," I say.

Ralts tugs at me to get my attention; they look pretty uncomfortable. We talked about this whole plan, including Ralts' adoption, back in the cave, but... "Hey, um... Can I talk to you guys for a sec?"

"Of course." I turn to Mightyena. "Give me a second; Snivy and I need to talk with Ralts."

We head upstairs, leaving Mightyena and Lilligant behind. We enter Mightyena's bedroom, the room I'll be using, and shut the door.

"Are... are you sure these people are nice?" Ralts asks.

"Absolutely!" Snivy says. "Mightyena has a kid, Poochyena, who they take really good care of. A few days ago, Mightyena ran like 100 miles in one night and fought bad guys to get some medicine to save Poochyena's life!"

"And Lilligant is really nice too," I add. "They took care of Poochyena when they were sick, and they slept on the couch so that we could take the bed. They're really kind and generous."

"I... I don't know," Ralts says. "I know you said they're both really nice, but I just... I don't feel like I can trust them."

"That's okay," I say. "You can't really trust someone you've just met. Just try to give them a chance."

"Hey Ralts," Snivy begins, "I know you needed to be strong before, back when your siblings would bully you and no one was willing to help you. But that's over now; you don't need to be strong anymore. Mightyena and Lilligant will take care of you, and love you. You can relax and be happy here!"

Ralts takes a deep breath, and when they exhale, a puff of red flame comes out. "I... I still don't feel safe."

"That's fine. Like Mudkip said, you don't have to trust them right away. Just try living here awhile, and I think you'll really like it!"

"... Alright. I'm ready to go back down now. And, um... thank you both for being so nice to me, even when I was being a jerk."

"No problem!" Snivy says.

We head back downstairs, and Ralts has their first conversation with Mightyena and Lilligant. Ralts is timid, but Mightyena and Lilligant are patient and understanding. After watching for a moment, I tap Snivy on the shoulder.

"Hey, Snivy? There's something I need to tell you. Can we head upstairs?"

Snivy nods, and back upstairs we go. Once we're behind a closed door, I take some time to figure out how to tell Snivy about my Wildfire. It'd be kinda weird to just come out and say it. Maybe I should start with what happened after Snivy got controlled? Or maybe I could-

"Well? What's this all about, Mudkip?"

Okay, that's it! "I'm NOT a Mudkip! I'm a human, and my name is JAMIE!!" As I shout my name, flames fly from my mouth at Snivy, causing them to leap back in shock. After all the times I've had to correct Snivy, it feels nice to finally just lash out at them... But then I realize what I've just done.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry Snivy! I didn't mean to, um... do that..."

Snivy stares at me, eyes wide. "... You have the Wildfire."

"... Yeah. I got it in the fight, when Ralts tried to mind control me..."

"... Um, that's fine! It'll be fine! We'll just have to cure you!" Snivy says, smiling nervously. "So, uh, the Wildfire is linked to desire, right? We just need to, you know, deal with your desire! So, what do you want?"

I sigh. "I want to go home."

Snivy's smile fades. I can't just stop wanting to go home, and dealing with it by getting me home would mean having to find Volomans. We can both tell that this won't be nearly as easy to cure as the others. "Well, uh," Snivy says, "I guess just have to get to Volomans before you backfire, right?"

"Right."

"... So, um, anyways, I was wondering; should we tell Mightyena and Lilligant the truth about Ralts? I mean, their story, their Wildfire, and the fact that they're the real culprit behind the disappearances?"

I sigh. "I don't know, probably. Let's just tell them tomorrow morning; I'm tired."

"Um... It's still the morning, actually."

"Then let's tell them this evening, I don't care! I haven't slept in over 24 hours."

"A-alright, Jamie! You get some sleep, I'll tell the others we're going to bed!" Snivy says, their nervous smile returning. For some reason it doesn't feel as nice as I thought it would to hear them finally call me by name.

"Sure," I reply, climbing into bed. A few seconds later, I hear Snivy shut the door behind them.

Well this is just perfect. I'm in an awful mood, my partner is afraid of me now, I have a timer ticking down until my spontaneous combustion, we have no leads on Volomans, and of course, I'm still a Mudkip...

I wanna go home.


	22. Frustration

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For people unfamiliar with pokemon, here is an image of [Treecko,](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/2/2c/252Treecko.png) the new pokemon in this chapter.

"Excuse me, but do you know anything about a wish granting dungeon called Volomans, or of pokemon with strange fire powers?" I would ask.

"No, sorry, I don't," they would answer.

"I see. Sorry to bother you."

The same conversation, over and over, for the past three days. Three days I've been asking around this useless town. Three days wasted. Three days closer to my Wildfire backfiring.

I wake up in Mightyena's bed, opening my eyes to see my Joy Scarf on the bedside table, burned. I got a little too angry last night, and my Wildfire flared up and burned it. I've been feeling very frustrated lately, as I still have absolutely no leads on Volomans. I get up and start packing up my bags, grabbing some food and the tent and stuffing it into a backpack before walking out the door.

As I walk out, I see Mightyena. The evening after we left the Violet Void and brought Ralts back, Snivy and I told Mightyena and Lilligant what really happened that night. They took it pretty well, and agreed that punishing Ralts wouldn't really help anything. They were really concerned about my Wildfire, but I told them there was nothing they could really do about it. In my explanation, I skipped over the whole 'human' thing and just told them I needed to get to Volomans to go home.

"Good morning, Jamie," Mightyena says.

"Morning."

"Lilligant and Snivy made pancakes downstairs, if you'd like some."

"Okay." I walk away, and Mightyena heads to Lilligant's room, where Ralts has been sleeping. With only three beds in the house, Mightyena, Lilligant, and Snivy have been sleeping on various furniture. Ralts likes to sleep in, so Mightyena tends to wake them up in the morning.

Ralts has been doing pretty well; they've started getting more comfortable with Mightyena and Lilligant. Also, it turns out Poochyena is younger than Ralts, unlike Ralts' siblings, so Ralts has been fine around them. They still have their Wildfire, but it's getting better with time.

I head downstairs, and see Snivy, Lilligant, and Poochyena at the table. Poochyena's gotten better, but they're still recovering, so I don't see them often. Snivy hears my footsteps and turns to see me, their genuinely happy expression turning to a now-familiar nervous smile. "G-good morning Jamie!"

"Hi," I reply. After countless corrections, Snivy is finally calling me by my actual name, thanks to a single threat of violence. No better way to build a healthy friendship than accidentally intimidating your partner into basic politeness. And I hadn't noticed at first, but Snivy's been avoiding me lately. I even overheard them talking about me to Mightyena, and heard Snivy confess that they're now scared of me.

"Oh, Mu- Jamie, where's your scarf?" Snivy asks.

"I accidentally burned it last night, so I took it off."

"Oh... Hey, wait, what's that bag for?"

"No one in town knows anything, so I'm going on a trip to find mystery dungeons."

"Um... When you say 'I'm' going on a trip, do you mean-"

"Alone. I can handle fighting on my own now. You should stay here so you can keep asking around." That's not the real reason; Snivy clearly doesn't want me around, and honestly, I don't really want to be around them either; being around other people has been annoying lately, and with Snivy especially it just feels... wrong.

"Oh, um... That's... probably a good plan," Snivy replies.

I sit down and serve myself some pancakes. They taste bland, because the Wildfire sucks and I can't taste good things now. Conversation at the table quiets down, which is normal around me by now. Soon, I finish my meal, and I walk out the door.

It's now been over a day since I left. I walked all day yesterday and today, and now my dumb Mudkip legs are sore. No one in Maceria Town knew of any nearby mystery dungeons besides the Violet Void, so I've been blindly searching anywhere that looks like it could have a cave or a dense forest that might be a dungeon. With no luck, of course.

It's getting late as I walk through a forest that could have a dungeon in it, but most likely doesn't. As I walk, it starts raining, which I expect to bother me, but it actually feels fine. Perks of losing my humanity and becoming water type, I guess. Now that I think about it, I've actually been less annoyed in general lately, thanks to all the solitude.

I walk through the forest for about 15 minutes in the rain before I stumble upon something unexpected; another person, wandering around in the middle of nowhere. Specifically, they're a Treecko, wearing a little ribbon around their neck and carrying a bag like mine. As they notice me, their face turns to a friendly smile.

"Oh, hey there! Judging by that backpack, you're an explorer too, right?"

"Uh, yeah. My name's Jamie."

"Treecko. Nice to meetcha!"

"Um, would you happen to know about any mystery dungeons in the area? I'm searching for them, and I'd like to ask you a few questions."

"Sure, of course! There's actually a dungeon somewhere in this forest. If you want to talk more, you'll have to follow me in there; I don't have much time." Treecko starts to walk away, beckoning me to follow.

"Wait, what do you mean you don't have much time?" I ask, walking along behind them.

"Well, this is gonna sound weird, especially in the middle of a rain storm, but if I go too long without going into a dungeon, I'll burst into flames."

... Oh. Oh my gosh, I might actually finally have a lead! "Hey, I actually know what you're talking about! I have that too!"

"You do!? Do you know something about this power?!"

"Uh, yeah. Do you... not know anything about it?"

Treecko sighs. "No, not really. Whatever, let's just get into the dungeon and talk there. It should be pretty close."

Well that ended up being kinda disappointing, but at least I finally found a dungeon. And this Treecko still might have useful information about Volomans or nearby mystery dungeons, even if they don't know anything about the Wildfire. I follow after Treecko deeper into the forest, and as the trees get denser, I can faintly feel the familiar aura of a mystery dungeon around me.


	23. Obsession

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For people unfamiliar with pokemon, here are images of the new pokemon that appear in this chapter:  
> [Beedrill](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/6/61/015Beedrill.png)  
> [Carnivine](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/d/df/455Carnivine.png)  
> [Venusaur](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/a/ae/003Venusaur.png)  
> 

Treecko and I walk through the mystery dungeon, rain falling on us through the trees. I've just finished explaining to Treecko everything I know about the Wildfire, including its connection to Volomans.

"So it's linked to my desire, huh?" Treecko says.

"Yeah. I think it only infects you if you're focusing on a really strong desire when you're exposed to it; I got close to pokemon with the Wildfire a few times before, but I only just got it recently. So, do you know what your desire is?"

"Uh, yeah. It's a little complicated. My home is... broken, I guess I could say? And I need to find this stone called the Shofuku Stone to fix it, and it's supposed to be in a special mystery dungeon, but I don't know which one. So, my desire is to fix my home, and I've been searching for mystery dungeons looking for the Shofuku Stone. What's your desire?"

"Well, I want to go home, but it's more complicated than that. The short version is, I need to get to Volomans and... stop the Wildfire, I think? And then I can get home. But, hardly anyone's even heard of Volomans, so I'm just searching blindly."

"Huh. And you said that if I just find what I'm looking for and fix my home, my Wildfire will go away?"

"Yeah, I'm-"

Suddenly, I'm interrupted by a pair of wild pokemon, jumping out from the bushes! A Beedrill and a Carnivine rush towards us! Treecko and I blast them with a pair flamethrower attacks, and the pokemon are defeated, evaporating into smoke.

Treecko sighs. "As much as this whole Wildfire thing sucks, it sure does make battling a lot easier."

We continue walking, our trip through the dungeon being very uneventful. A few more wild pokemon jump out at us, but we defeat them easily. Eventually, I start up a conversation.

"Have you always been on your own, while you've been looking for this Shofuku Stone thing?"

"Yeah. No one from my home would be able to join me, so I've been alone. It's not too bad though; since I got this Wildfire thing, I've been pretty easily annoyed by noise, and people make a lot of noise."

"Yeah, it's been the same for me. I had a partner before, and I used to be able to tolerate them, but I've gotten really sick of people lately, so I left. Speaking of, when we met a while ago, you were smiling and stuff. Was that..?"

"Fake, yeah. I was just being polite, since you might have known something about the Shofuku Stone."

"Oh. I was wondering if you'd found a way to fix how the Wildfire messes with your emotions."

"Nope."

"... Did you... enjoy exploring mystery dungeons? Before the Wildfire, I mean."

"Yeah, I used to. They were pretty interesting, and I was really curious about them."

"Huh. My partner was really into mystery dungeons too."

As our conversation dies down, my thoughts drift to Snivy. They were a jerk, calling me Mudkip just to make me mad, but... well, aside from that, they were a pretty good partner. They were strong in a fight, and brave, too, sometimes to a fault. They were pretty fun to be around sometimes, and their excitement for mystery dungeons was infectious. And for all the teasing about my name, they really did seem to care about me when things got serious. I kinda-

"WHOA!" Treecko shouts, as a giant Venusaur charges out from the surrounding forest! I'm surprised, but I manage to react quickly, and I open my mouth to blast the Venusaur-

And to my surprise, water comes out, leaving the Venusaur undamaged.

Treecko hits the Venusaur with a flamethrower, and the Venasaur grunts in pain, but shakes it off and charges at us. We each dodge to the side, and counter with a pair of flamethrower attacks. The Venusaur cries out in pain, and runs away back into the forest.

As I start to calm down from the fight, Treecko walks up to me. "Hey, why did you use a water attack back there?"

"I don't know. I wasn't really thinking, so I guess I just... did it on accident?" That doesn't make sense; the first time I used flamethrower, it was on accident, when I was trying to use water gun. Using water gun on accident instead of flamethrower seems a little backwards...

"Huh. Weird." Treecko turns and continues walking down the path, and I follow. Eventually, we start seeing a bright light ahead.

"Hey, do you think that's the end of the dungeon?" I ask.

"Yeah. Let's go!" We start running, and soon, we enter a clearing with a big tree in it. Treecko starts running around the room and frantically searching, whispering to themself "Where is it, where is it..." Soon, their Wildfire starts to ignite, and they flinch in pain. Finding nothing in the room, their turn their gaze to the giant tree. They start climbing with impressive speed, and reach the top in just a few minutes.

All the while, I sit and watch; the determination and focus in their expression is unlike anything I've ever seen. But the thing I really notice is their Wildfire; it started as just a few flames scattered around their body, but as they kept searching, it grew more and more. When they finally climb down from the tree, I see the flames engulfing their entire body.

Treecko starts running towards the exit path. "It's not here! I have to go!"

Immediately, I start chasing after them. "Treecko, wait!"

"I can't afford to wait, I'm already almost out of time!"

"You won't be able to find it in time! If this keeps up, you'll never make it!"

"Then I just need to go faster!" Treecko says, and true to their word, they start running faster, and I gradually fall behind.

"No, that's- You can't- I KNOW HOW TO CURE THE WILDFIRE!!"

Gradually, Treecko slows to a stop, and their Wildfire begins to shrink. I finally catch up to them, and they turn to me, their expression wide-eyed and desperate. "You do?! But, you said- How do I get rid of this!?"

I take a few seconds to catch my breath before answering. "I... I don't have it figured out yet-"

"Then why are you wasting my time!?!"

"Because you're just making it worse!!"

Treecko stands in stunned silence, their Wildfire disappearing. "... What?"

"Don't you see yourself? How you're acting? How WE'RE acting? We're obsessed! We aren't thinking about anything besides our goals! I mean... do you remember what this mystery dungeon was like? I've been in dungeons with glowing mushrooms and gravity changing crystals. What was special about this dungeon? Did we even notice? What was in that last room?"

"Well, there was a big tree..."

"That's it? Just a boring old tree? There's always something amazing in the last room, and we didn't even notice! You're supposed to LIKE mystery dungeons, aren't you?"

"I... what does that matter?! Of course I'm focusing on my goal!" Treecko's Wildfire starts to flare up again.

"Can't you see? Your Wildfire didn't ignite in that dungeon at all until you started looking around for the Shofuku Stone! The more you obsess over it and think about it, the worse your Wildfire gets!"

"Well what am I supposed to do?! You said yourself that the Wildfire makes us obsess over our desires, so I don't have a choice! And even besides that, I NEED to fix my home! I NEED TO!!" For a moment, Treecko's Wildfire flares up even bigger, almost like a bonfire, before shrinking back down as Treecko looks around at the flames left on the ground. "... Okay, you're right; I am making it worse. So... what am I supposed to do? What are WE supposed to do? We can't just... give up, can we?"

"No, we can't. Look, I'm not sure what to do yet, but I know what we're doing now will only make things worse. Just..." I rummage around in my bag for an oran berry, handing it to Treecko. "Just eat this for now; you need it after all that fire. Let's get out of here and get some sleep, I'll try to come up with a plan by tomorrow."

Treecko agrees, and we walk out of the mystery dungeon. We each set up camp nearby each other and go to bed; it was already late when we went in, and by now, the sun has set. I lay down in my sleeping bag, trying to figure out just what to do to cure me and Treecko's Wildfire. It's hard to focus, with the itch of the Wildfire occasionally dragging my thoughts to reminiscing about my life back on Earth before I snap out of it and resume planning.

I lay there for what might be hours. Then, when I turn around in my sleeping bag for the 8th time, I notice my tent entrance is a little bit open, the night sky just barely peeking through. It stopped raining a while ago, so the sky's probably clear now; it'd be a great view of the stars. I know stargazing won't make me happy; I already tried it last night.

With this Wildfire, I feel like the only thing that can make me happy is progress towards Volomans. Progress towards home. But I can't keep thinking like that; obsessing over getting home will only make it worse, and I need to get rid of this Wildfire or I'll run out of time. I'm not making any progress towards a plan anyways, so with a sigh, I get up from my sleeping bag and step out of my tent to stargaze.


	24. Rainbow Rainforest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For people unfamiliar with pokemon, here are images of the new pokemon that appear in this chapter:  
> [Joltik](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/f/f8/595Joltik.png)  
> [Lotad](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/e/ee/270Lotad.png)
> 
> Also, I realize the emotional effects of the Wildfire might resemble depression in some ways. This chapter is not meant to give the advice of "just be happy" as a cure for depression.

"....jamie.....up... Hey, wake up!"

I groan as I open my eyes. "Ugh, Snivy?"

"Snivy?" Treecko asks. "Who's Snivy?"

"... Oh yeah. Sorry about that, Treecko. Snivy's my partner." I can't really be blamed for getting them mixed up, as they both seem to be early birds, much to my annoyance.

"Oh. Well, did you come up with a plan last night? I can't afford to wait much longer."

I think back to last night. "... Yeah. Yeah, I got a plan. Let's go outside, I'll explain there."

We step outside of my tent, and I take a moment to gather my thoughts. "... Okay. So, we're going back into that mystery dungeon from yesterday."

"What? Why? We don't have time for that! We already know there's nothing in there!"

"We can't just snap our fingers and make the Wildfire go away; it's going to take time. Besides, once we're cured, we'll have all the time in the world, right?"

"... Right. Okay, keep going; tell me why we're going back into the dungeon."

"The Wildfire makes us focus on just one thing, and we end up ignoring everything else. So we're going to try doing the opposite. We're gonna follow three rules in that dungeon. First: We'll avoid thinking about our desires, because that just strengthens the Wildfire. Second: We won't use our fire powers at all."

"Wait a sec, why not?"

"Well, I think the use of our powers is linked to our desires; when I was distracted and lost in thought yesterday, I used water gun instead of flamethrower, so I think we should avoid using our powers. Also, it'll make battles more fun."

"Fun?"

"Yeah. Rule three: We're going to enjoy our exploration through the dungeon, and we'll do whatever we want."

"I already know what I want..."

"Hey! Rule number one!"

"Right, right. So, what's up with this rule? Didn't you say the Wildfire stops us from enjoying things?"

"Yeah. The Wildfire suppresses our emotions, and our other desires. And the effect gets stronger over time, as the Wildfire gets stronger. I think that maybe if we can bring back those emotions and those other desires, it'll weaken the Wildfire."

"You're saying a lot of 'I think' and 'maybe'. Are you sure this will work?"

"... No, I'm not. So far, the only times I've seen the Wildfire cured was when people's desires disappeared. But it might work, and that's all we can hope for."

Treecko sighs. "Yeah, okay; I'll try it. Let's go." Treecko picks up their bag and starts walking toward the denser forest of the dungeon.

"Wait a sec," I say, following after them. "What's this dungeon called?" I was so focused yesterday that I didn't even ask what the dungeon's name was. Just goes to prove my point about our obsession.

"Oh yeah. Um, it was called... the Rainbow Rainforest."

The Rainbow Rainforest... As I walk forward, the trees grow denser and the aura of the mystery dungeon surrounds me. This time, I notice how the sunlight is filtered through the trees, and the path we walk on is like a big shadow with spots of light. I point this out to Treecko, and they say they didn't notice it until I pointed it out.

I keep looking around, and I see fruits on the bushes and trees, of all sorts of colors and shapes. Red, yellow, green, blue, purple... This must be the 'rainbow' part of the name. I think about eating one, but I know I won't be able to taste the fruit, and I don't even feel hungry.

I decide I want one anyways.

I walk off to the side of the path where the bushes are growing, and take a closer look. There's a blue fruit in a crescent shape, unlike anything I've seen in either the human or pokemon world. I see other fruits, too; a red star, a yellow cube, and an orange oval. As I pluck the orange fruit from the bush, Treecko approaches me from behind.

"Hey, are you sure those are safe to eat?" they ask.

I shrug. "We won't know until we try. Aren't you curious about them?"

Treecko stops to think. Meanwhile, I turn back to my fruit. I bite into it, tearing off a piece. It tastes like... blue. Not, like, blueberries or anything, just... blue. I take another bite, and the flavor of blue is pretty decent. I can't really appreciate the taste, but I can at least tell that it doesn't taste bad.

"How is it?" Treecko asks.

"Eh, it's not bad. Try one."

Treecko grabs the yellow cube fruit, looking over it before taking a bite. As they chew, their expression turns from curiosity to confusion. They swallow, then turn to me. "Hey, is it just me, or does this taste like... yellow?"

"I know, right? It's weird." I continue to eat my fruit, trying to focus harder on the flavor. It definitely feels like I'm tasting the color blue. Soon, I finish, and I move on to a green fruit, shaped like a doughnut. As expected, it tastes like green. The more I focus on it, the more it tastes... kinda good.

"This is really weird," Treecko says. "How do you think it works?"

I take another bite out of my green fruit, then shake my head. "I have no idea. You can't taste colors!"

"Hmm... Maybe... maybe it messes with the part of your brain that lets you see? And it, like, mixes up color and flavor in your head."

"That... kinda makes sense. Green is my favorite color. Maybe that's why this green fruit tastes kinda good."

"Oh? Maybe I should try a blue fruit then," Treecko says as they finish their fruit.

"Blue's your favorite color?"

"Yeah. Anyway, we should probably-"

We're suddenly interrupted by a rustling in the bushes in front of us. We jump back just in time to avoid a sudden blast of water from the bushes! Jumping out from the bushes are a Lotad and a Joltik.

The Lotad jumps at Treecko, and they dodge out of the way just in time. "Remember," I shout to them, "don't use your Wildfire!" I'm not sure if Treecko responds, because just after I finish talking, I'm zapped with electricity! I shake it off and turn to the Joltik, and see it start to gather electricity around itself.

I see it start to move, and I jump to the side, avoiding a ball of lightning. I counter with a water gun, but it dodges with surprising speed. It starts gathering electricity again, and I use the opening to turn around and kick a mud-slap at it, landing a hit. With its attack interrupted and its eyes blinded with mud, I run up and tackle it, sending it flying backward!

"Duck!" Treecko suddenly yells from behind. I drop to the floor, and the Lotad flies over my head, slamming into the Joltik! As the Joltik evaporates into smoke, Treecko steps in front of me and extends their arm, and glowing green tendrils emerge from their hand! The tendrils grab the Lotad, which struggles in their grasp for a few seconds, before Treecko yanks their hand back, pulling the Lotad toward them through the air. Treecko smacks the airborne Lotad with their tail, sending it rolling across the ground before it evaporates.

I take a deep breath as I start to calm down. I pay attention to how I feel; my heart is pounding, and my muscles feel both energized and sore. The adrenaline of a fight is still running through me, and I feel... excited.

I turn to Treecko. "Hey, what was that move you used back there?"

"Absorb. It's tiring to use, but it heals me by draining my opponent."

"Cool." We resume walking down the path, and I continue talking. "Do you like fighting?"

"Um, I used to. It was always pretty fun, trying to figure out how to counter my opponent and stuff... What about you?"

"Me? Well... I wasn't very good at fighting for a while, so it was just painful and annoying. But lately, I've been getting into some really serious and difficult fights, so it's kinda... refreshing, to just have a simple, low-steaks fight."

"Hm. It's been a while since I've had a difficult fight; not using my Wildfire gave me an actual challenge for once, so that was kinda refreshing for me too, in a different way."

We fall silent as we walk, and I start to look around the forest. The bushes are still dotted by colorful fruits, and as we get deeper, we encounter flowers along the path. "This dungeon is pretty, don't you think?" I say.

"Huh?" Treecko takes a moment to look around. "Oh yeah. I guess so, objectively speaking. Do you... like it?"

"I..." I don't. I haven't enjoyed anything since I got the Wildfire. Still, when I'm focusing on all the colorful fruits and flowers, the frustration and the annoying itch of the Wildfire... kinda fades a little. "Well, no, I don't like it. But it's not bad, right?"

"... Yeah. Yeah, it's not bad." There's a brief moment of silence, before Treecko speaks again. "Do you... Did you like exploring mystery dungeons?"

I think for a moment. I never really realized it before, but... "Yeah, I think so. Not as much as my partner Snivy; they really love exploring. But, yeah, mystery dungeons are really cool, with the glowing lights, and the weird, magical things in them. Did I tell you about the crystals that switch your gravity?"

"Oh yeah, you did. Yeah, those sound really cool."

"... What do you like about mystery dungeons?"

"Oh, um... Well, I was always really curious about them; all the weird things in them and all the strange properties of them, like how they change their layout over time. I wanted to research them, and try to figure out how they work."

"That sounds interesting. Snivy's the polar opposite; when I'd ask them if they know how the weird stuff worked, they'd just say 'well it is a MYSTERY dungeon' and leave it at that."

"Sounds like they just enjoy the wonder and mystery of it; I have a friend back home who used to say I was 'ruining the magic' when I tried to figure out how it all worked."

"Yeah, I can understand that."

We walk awhile longer in silence. Eventually, I suggest we stop and take a break; we aren't in any rush, after all. We sit down, have some more fruit, and just take a few minutes to relax...


	25. Satisfaction

After our break, Treecko and I resume our journey through the Rainbow Rainforest. We walked a ways and got into another fight, and as we continue to walk, it starts to rain, the water hitting the leaves above, sliding off before falling on us.

"Hey Jamie," Treecko says, "do you like the rain? I mean, being water-type and everything..."

"Well, that's a weird story, actually; I wasn't a water-type until just recently."

"Wait, what? How? You don't look like you've evolved or anything."

"It's too hard to get into details, but basically, I got transformed. Before, I didn't like the rain, but now it doesn't bother me anymore. I might actually like it, if not for the Wildfire. What about you; how do you feel about the rain?"

"I used to like it. Back home, I had a fire-type friend, and they couldn't understand how I could even tolerate it." As we walk, I wonder how Snivy feels about the rain... "Hey, is that a pond?" Treecko says, pointing to a far-off spot to the side of the path. We run over, and Treecko was right; we find a fairly large pond, the surface rippling from the rain.

I consider the pond for a moment, then I turn to Treecko. "Hey, can we stop here? I want to swim for a while."

"Wait, you want to swim? But the Wildfire messes with your desires-"

"Yeah, I don't actually feel a desire to swim, but... Well, I used to enjoy swimming, so I'll do it anyway; maybe it'll help."

Treecko pauses, bringing their hand to their chin as they think. I turn back to the pond and jump in, diving underwater. I didn't notice before, but it's amazing just how well I can see underwater now. I can hear pretty well too, though I mainly just hear the rain hitting the water from above.

I take my time, swimming in big loops and lazily spinning and flipping around. The feeling is muffled by the Wildfire, but I can almost feel the same comfort and relaxation that I felt in the water before. I feel... peaceful.

Less peaceful is the sudden splash I hear behind. I turn to see Treecko, floating in the water for a second before swimming to the surface. I follow them to the surface, popping up next to them. "Hey Treecko. What's up?"

"Oh, well, I liked swimming too, before the Wildfire, so I thought I'd join you."

"Sounds good." We spend probably 10 minutes in the pond. Treecko would often take a break and hang out at the shore, leaving their feet in the water. They'd also sometimes just float on their back, and sometimes I'd join them, floating there peacefully.

Eventually, we leave the pond and continue walking. As we walk, I start thinking about Snivy and Treecko. They're pretty similar in some ways; on a surface level, they're both grass-type, but they also both enjoy exploring mystery dungeons, and battling. And waking me up early, unfortunately. But Treecko is more calm and cautious, like me. Snivy's so excitable and fearless. I really-

My thoughts are interrupted by a roar, and I get a sudden sense of deja vu as a Venusaur charges at us from the brush! Treecko and I jump to the side, and I blast it in the face with a water gun! It's a direct hit, but the Venusaur barely flinches. Treecko jumps onto its back, and glowing green tendrils wrap around the Venusaur's head, absorbing its strength, but Venusaur doesn't seem affected. Vines rise from the Venusaur's back, and they whack Treecko off, sending them to the ground.

I run over and help Treecko to their feet. "It's resistant to our attacks!" I say. "What can we do?"

Before Treecko can respond, the Venusaur charges at us again, and we split up to get out of the way. It almost charges right into a tree, but manages to stop itself just in time. Treecko runs over to me. "Jamie, you can use that mud attack of yours to blind it, right?"

I nod. "Yeah, why?"

"I have a plan!"

I turn to look at the Venusaur, and I'm struck by a vine whip before I can dodge. It stings badly, but I'm still standing. Treecko has to dodge as well, and we're separated again. They throw another absorb attack at Venusaur, more a distraction than anything.

I take advantage, turning around and digging my back legs into the ground before kicking a mud-slap at Venusaur's face! Its head is so big I can only hit one of its eyes at a time, so I still need to hit its other one. The Venusaur roars in rage at my attack, slapping Treecko away with a vine whip before charging at me!

I dodge its tackle, but it follows up with a vine whip! I'm barely able to dodge it, and I get in position and kick a mud-slap at its other eye! It hits, but as Venusaur lashes out blindly with its vines, it lands a hard hit on me and knocks me to the ground. I try to stand back up, but I'm too badly hurt, and I fall back to the ground.

The Venusaur charges, and despite its blindness, it manages to charge in my direction. I watch from the ground, as Treecko jumps onto its back. They use absorb and grab Venusaur's head, yanking it to the left and steering it off course! They continue directing the Venusaur's head, and they gradually steer it towards a big tree on the side of the path!

Treecko retracts their tendrils and leaps off. The Venusaur, unable to see the tree in front of it, slams right into it, shaking the tree and even the ground with the force of the impact! It lets out a groan of pain before collapsing to the ground, but it doesn't evaporate into smoke.

Treecko runs over to me, fishing an oran berry out of the bag at their waist. They hand it to me, and as I eat it, the pain mostly vanishes. "You okay?" they ask.

"Yeah, thanks. That was an impressive plan you had there."

"You did well, too; my plan wouldn't have worked without you. Now lets get out of here before that thing wakes up!"

"Right!"

As we run through the forest, the rain gradually stops. Soon, we see a familiar bright light up ahead. We enter into the deepest part of the dungeon, a clearing where the sky above is visible, no longer blocked by the leaves. On the opposite end of the clearing is a giant tree, far bigger than all the others. On its branches hang the familiar colored fruits of the forest, but these ones are different; some fruits have stripes of different colors, and some have polka dots, and others have colors that fade into each other. Each fruit holds a whole rainbow of colors!

I take a moment to just stand there and stare at the sight. Treecko joins me in standing and staring. After a moment of silence, Treecko speaks up.

"I can't believe I didn't notice this before."

"Yeah. It was a good idea to be more observant this time, right?"

Treecko nods. "Right."

I stare for a moment longer, and then I remember something. "Hey, I said I was looking for a wish-granting mystery dungeon, right?"

"Oh yeah, you did."

"Well, I never checked if this dungeon can grant wishes, so..."

"Wait, but, rule number one..."

Yeah, Treecko's right; I shouldn't be thinking about this, much less talking. But, I really should check... I need to make a wish. What do I want to wish for? What do I want... "... I wish... for... I wish for an apple pie the size of my whole body!"

Nothing happens, and there's a few seconds of silence in the clearing before Treecko turns to me with an amused look. "Are you serious?"

"Well yeah. After going all the way through this dungeon, I could really go for a great big apple pie right now."

"Well, I think we have the next best thing right here." Treecko runs over to the tree and climbs up, disappearing into the branches before jumping back down with a pair of fruits. They take a bite out of one fruit, a blue one with dots, and toss me the other, a green one with stripes. I take a bite out of it...

"Hey, this tastes... good," I say.

"Wait, really?!"

"Yeah; it tastes mostly green, but I think the other flavors mix with it and make it better, enough to taste good even with the Wildfire. Is it not good to you?"

Treecko takes another bite. "It's... almost good. It's still hard to taste, but I sorta like it." We take our time finishing our food, then Treecko stands up and looks at the giant tree. "... You know, that tree looks like it reaches above all the others. I wonder what it looks like from up there."

"Do you want to find out?"

"... Yeah. I want that. You wanna join me?"

"Oh, I can't climb trees. Its kinda hard without fingers..."

"I can help you out. Are you sure you don't want to?"

"... Alright, lets do it."

The climb takes a while; Treecko's really good at climbing, but they pretty much have to pull me up each branch. I almost fall once, but a quick reaction on Treecko's part saves me. Eventually we reach the top, and we each sit down on a branch and look at the view. With the rain cleared up, the sun lights up the whole forest, stretching out for what might be a mile. Being so high up and seeing the trees from above is a really new experience, and to top it off, there's a bright, beautiful rainbow arcing across the sky... This world is amazing.

"Wow..." Treecko says. "This dungeon sure is colorful, huh?"

"Yeah... Wait, I just realized something! My favorite color is green, and your favorite color is blue!"

Treecko looks at me, then down at themself, then to me again. They start to giggle. "Oh yeah, you're right! I can't believe we didn't notice that before." Suddenly, Treecko freezes, and their eyes go wide. Then they relax with a disappointed look.

"Huh? What's up?"

"The Wildfire, I... I didn't feel it for a second there. That was the first time I've laughed in weeks."

I suddenly realize that for a moment, I didn't feel it either; that constant itch disappeared completely. It's back now, but... "... Do you wanna get down now?"

"No. I want to stay up here a bit, if that's alright with you."

"Sure."

We spend a few minutes staring at the beautiful sight. Eventually, we head back down, with Treecko having to help me climb down. After that, we exit the mystery dungeon, our exploration complete.

After we're out, we discuss our understanding of the Wildfire. It seems like I was right; focusing on our other desires and feelings really does weaken the Wildfire, since it distracts us from our main desire. And I think there's a major aspect of the Wildfire that I'm starting to understand; satisfaction.

The Wildfire is so dangerous because the desires it latches onto are almost impossible to satisfy; Krokorok's desire for money never stopped, Mightyena had no way of curing Poochyena, and Ralts needed to be strong forever to be safe. Likewise, Treecko and I can't make much progress towards our goals. The Wildfire isn't just desire; it's dissatisfaction.

The Wildfire doesn't let us feel satisfied; it forces us to always be chasing our unreachable goal. But that means if we DO feel satisfied, it weakens the Wildfire. When we set goals in the dungeon, like 'I want to swim', and then achieved those goals, we felt satisfied. So so we decide that's what we'll do from here on out.

We'll continue chasing our goals, but not so obsessively; we'll focus on achieving smaller things that make us happy, and we'll take time to just relax; there's no time limit for us, after all. I part ways with Treecko, and while Treecko heads to a nearby town, I start traveling back to Maceria Town.

After walking all day, it's finally night. I'm moving at a faster pace now, since I'm not stopping everywhere to look for mystery dungeons, but with nothing to do, I started to have trouble keeping the Wildfire at bay. I started to keep my mind busy by thinking about where I'm going, and what'll happen when I get there; specifically, Snivy. What are they thinking about? What are they doing? How will they react when I get back? After everything that's happened, I really... I really miss Snivy.

As the sun sets, I start setting up my tent. After I finish, I decide to stay out for a while and watch the sky. As the light of the day fades, the sky slowly starts filling with stars. There are hardly any at first, but as I continue to watch, more and more begin to shine in the darkness.

It's kinda like last night. When I went out to stargaze last night, I was right; it didn't make me happy. But despite that, as I stared at the stars and my thought drifted to my stargazing with Snivy, the itch of the Wildfire faded just a little. I was finally able to focus enough to come up with a plan.

But tonight is different; I can feel a bit of joy in my mind, peaking out from under the smothering blanket of the Wildfire. I'm recovering. I just have to keep my thoughts away from you-know-what and eventually, I'll be able to feel, and want, and _live_ , just like before...


	26. Snivy

It's about midday on my second day of traveling back to Maceria Town, when the town finally comes into view. I've been doing pretty well, keeping myself from thinking about you-know-what, and just stopping to smell the roses. Sometimes literally. It was nice. I'm walking toward the town, when suddenly-

"JAMIE!!"

I turn to see Snivy running towards me from the grove, a smile on their face. "Snivy!" I call back as I start running to meet them.

Soon, we're face to face for the first time in days. Snivy's excitement calms, and their expression shifts to a familiar nervous smile. "U-um, hi Jamie. How was your trip? Did you find-"

I interrupt them, lunging forward to wrap them in a hug. "I missed you, Snivy."

Snivy is stunned for a second, but soon they wrap their arms around me, returning the hug. "I... I missed you too. I missed you so much, Mudkip..." Suddenly, they break away, panicked. "JAMIE! I mean Jamie! I'm so sorry, I just..." Snivy looks downward, their expression guilty rather than scared.

"Don't worry about it, it's fine."

"Huh? Wait, really?"

"Yeah. Look, forget about that. What's been happening since I left?"

"Oh! You won't believe this, but I found out where Volomans is!"

"Huh? Wait, really!?" Suddenly, I feel the Wildfire start to grow stronger inside me. "No, wait, we can talk about that later."

"What? But don't you..."

"How's Ralts doing? Have they been getting more comfortable?"

"Um, yeah. They're doing great, actually. They've been getting along great with Poochyena, and they seem to feel safe around Mightyena and Lilligant. Oh, but, don't refer to Poochyena as their sibling, or Mightyena and Lilligant as their parents; it reminds Ralts of their family."

"Got it. That's great news! So, what are you doing outside the town? Gathering food?"

"Yeah. We're not running out or anything, but it just gets a little boring sometimes. That, and being outside is just... nice, you know?"

I nod. "So, you want some help picking berries?"

"Sure, that sounds great! C'mon, I dropped my bags over in the grove." Snivy turns toward the grove, then turns back to me with a suspicious look. "You're not gonna throw another berry at me this time, are you?" they ask with a smile.

"Hmmm, well, maybe, maybe not~"

Our berry picking is relaxing and uneventful, with minimal berry throwing. After a few minutes, we head back to Maceria Town to eat some real food; Snivy says Lilligant's making pizza for lunch!

When we get back, I'm greeted by Mightyena and Lilligant, and I say hi to Poochyena and Ralts. Unfortunately, Lilligant only made pizza for 5 people, but Snivy offers to split their serving. It tastes great; of all the things I thought might bring back my suppressed feelings, Lilligant's cooking was not one that I expected.

"So Jamie," Lilligant begins, "how are you doing? With the Wildfire, I mean; you seem like you're back to normal."

"Well, it's not completely gone, but I'm recovering! At this rate, it'll probably only be a few more days before it's gone."

"Wow, really!?" Snivy says. "That's great news! What exactly happened on your trip? Er, if you don't mind talking about it, that is..."

I begin recounting the events of my trip, starting with when I was looking around randomly for mystery dungeons. I tell them about Treecko, and the first trip, and the plan, and the fruit, and everything. By the time the story is over, everyone has finished eating.

As we leave the table, Snivy suddenly remembers something, and runs upstairs, calling for me to follow. We head into the room Snivy's using, and Snivy opens a drawer and pulls out a pink scarf; my Joy Scarf! There's an off-color pink patch sewn onto it, over the part that I accidentally burned.

Snivy walks over and hands the scarf to me. "I got your Joy Scarf fixed up after you left! It's not perfect, but I think it should still work."

"Wow, thanks!" I say, taking the scarf. "Can you help me put it on? It's kinda hard without fingers."

"Of course!"

After my Joy Scarf is back on, I spend the rest of the afternoon chatting with Mightyena and the others. Late in the day, when I'm talking with Mightyena and Snivy, Mightyena brings up a question about sleeping arrangements.

"Oh, actually, that gives me an idea," I say. "Hey Snivy, how about you and I sleep outside, under the stars?"

"Huh? But don't you want to sleep in a real bed, after your trip?"

"Well yeah, but I think it'll be fun. Besides, I wanna spend some time with you."

"Oh. Um, yeah, that does sound fun; I haven't been stargazing since the night we met Ralts. And this time we don't need to worry about some spooky monster making us disappear."

"Well," Mightyena says, "that simplifies the issue of not having enough beds. But are you sure you'll be alright out there, on your own?"

Snivy smiles. "I won't be on my own, and neither will Jamie."

Snivy and I leave after dinner, grabing the tent and heading outside the town. It's not dark yet, so we pass the time with some sparring. Surprisingly, I easily gain the upper hand. Its mostly because Snivy still isn't using their grass-type moves against me, because of the type advantage. We decide to make things more fair by stopping me from using my special attacks as well. After that adjustment, our matches are more even; Snivy has more experience fighting, but they've gotten rusty from just hanging out in the town, so it gets pretty close.

After 30 minutes of alternating sparring and breaks, we get bored and start playing tag in the grove instead. Soon we start switching between games; we play hide-and-seek, we make up stories, and we even come up with a game where Snivy tries to climb a tree while I try to knock them down with water gun.

That last game ends with Snivy falling and getting hurt, followed by several apologies and oran berries.

Finally, the sun starts to set, and we begin setting up the tent. Once we're finished, we have a snack break, and by the time that's over, it's night time, and the stars are starting to light up the sky. It's hard to see the sky from under all the trees, so we head out of the grove. We manage to find the same spot where we stargazed last time. We lay down on our backs and silently watch the stars appear.

I run my hand over my Joy Scarf. I wore it for so long, it felt weird when I took it off. I'm really glad Snivy got it fixed for me. I lay there in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the sky.

"... Snivy, I'm really sorry about knocking you down back there, I should have realized-"

"It's fine, I don't blame you. It was my stupid idea anyways. I'm just glad I get to..."

"... Yeah?"

"Well, um... I'm glad I get to hang out with you again. Today was so much fun! I just really like playing with you, Mudkip... Jamie! I'm so sorry, I meant to say Jamie!"

"Hey, it's fine; it's not a big deal."

"But it bothers you, doesn't it?"

I hesitate. It's nice that Snivy cares about how I feel now, but now that I think about it, being called Mudkip doesn't feel the same anymore. Before, it felt uncomfortable, just like this body. But even after I got used to my body, the name 'Mudkip' still felt wrong. Now, it just feels like... a name. Just a name, and nothing more. "Actually, no, it doesn't anymore. I don't mind being called Mudkip, so... it's fine for you to call me that, I guess."

Snivy pauses, then lets out a sigh. "No, it's not fine. I... Do you mind if I talk for a minute?

I shake my head.

"... Back home, I lived with my parents and my older siblings. I was the youngest by a lot, so everyone looked down on me. There were hardly any kids in the village around my age, so I didn't really have any friends. My siblings were so much stronger than me, so much smarter, and so, so much more mature. I was nothing next to them.

"My family would always criticize me, and talk about how immature I was. Any time I wanted to play a game, or spar, or even whenever I got excited about something, my siblings would tell me how immature I was being, and my parents would say I should be more like my siblings.

"When the team of explorers stopped at my village, and I became obsessed with exploring mystery dungeons, my family criticized me for that, too. Every day, when I would tell them all the cool things about mystery dungeons, they would just call me childish and immature. And after the explorers left, and I told them I wanted to become an explorer, they told me... Well, um, after that, I decided to leave.

"I went off to become an explorer, and I had no idea what I was doing. I was able to ask around about a few nearby dungeons, but I was awful at exploring; in my first dungeon, I got lost, and hurt, and lost again before I finally reached the end. And all the while, I was alone for the first time in my life, traveling for days in total solitude. I was so, so lonely... and then I found you.

"You were weak, ignorant, and helpless, and you made up ridiculous stories about being a human! You couldn't do anything without my help! Finally, I... I found someone I was better than. I thought I was so much better than you, and I was so happy; it was finally my turn to look down on someone instead of up. I didn't respect you at all... I was just like my siblings.

"At first, I called you Mudkip because, well, you were one. But then, when it turned out your ridiculous human stories were true... suddenly you weren't so far below me. I held on to that name, even after I knew it wasn't your real name. It made me feel like I had something over you, like I was better than you, and... and because I liked making you mad...

"But things changed between us; we played together, we fought strong enemies, we fought with each other, and we made up. I started to like you, not because it felt good to look down on someone, but because... you were my friend. But I just kept calling you Mudkip anyways. And then... you got the Wildfire.

"After that night, I was scared of you because I didn't want to get hurt. But then you left, and I was... terrified. I realized how awful of me it was to keep calling you Mudkip, even though it made you upset. I realized how bad of a friend I had been... And I realized I might have just pushed away the only friend I had.

"I'm so sorry for how I treated you before, for how little I cared about how you felt. I'm so, so lucky to have you as a friend. You're so strong, and smart, and kind. You even managed to cure your own Wildfire! You're amazing!.. But I'm just a jerk. Compared to you, I'm just-"

"No."

Snivy pauses. "... What?"

"Snivy, I'm only strong because you taught me how to fight! You're the one who's strong! And you're brave, too; whenever I hesitated, and didn't know what to do, you were willing to dive head-first into danger! And you're also kind; when I didn't know how to help Mightyena, you just smiled at me and suggested we become criminals with them!

"And most of all, you taught me to have fun; from you, I learned to just let go and do things, and not worry if I'm being immature or childish! When I was trying to enjoy myself in that rainforest, I was thinking of you practically every five minutes. In fact, if it weren't for you, I might not even have come up with that plan and been able to cure my Wildfire!

"And yeah, you were a jerk; I hated how you would make me mad on purpose, and those feelings are part of what made me decide to leave. But look at yourself now; you're really trying to do better, and catching yourself when you slip up! You're strong, and brave, and kind. You care about me, and you're so much fun to be around! You're... You're the best friend I've ever had."

Snivy stares at me in disbelief, tears forming at their eyes. They choke up as they speak. "Mudkip, I... I mean... I..." Their tears finally start to flow, and they wrap me in a hug as they start sobbing. I hug them in return, and I finally realize that I've been crying too. As my tears fall, the last embers of the Wildfire inside me finally fade away, and I feel...

I feel so happy here.


	27. Traveling

I open my eyes and see an empty sleeping bag next to me. Snivy's already woken up, as usual. I stand up, stretch, and walk out of the tent and into the grove.

"Good morning Mudkip!"

I look upward to find Snivy sitting on a tree branch, smiling down at me. I smile back. "Good morning Snivy. What's up? I mean, besides you."

"I was just watching the sunrise while I waited for you. You sure like to sleep in."

"More like you just wake up too early. Anyways, let's head back to Mightyena's house and have breakfast."

Snivy hops down and we pack up our things before walking back to Town. We soon reach Mightyena and Lilligant's house, and walk in to find them eating some eggs, along with Poochyena and Ralts.

"Welcome back, Jamie, Snivy," Mightyena says. "How was your day yesterday?"

"It was great! I fell out of a tree!" Snivy replies.

"Cool!" Lilligant says. "You're here just in time, come get some eggs while they're warm.

We sit down and start eating. The food tastes good, a sensation I'm still getting used to now that I'm recovered. Conversation starts going around the table, and soon Snivy and I start telling everyone about yesterday. We don't mention the conversation we had last night; it's a bit to personal for us to be comfortable sharing.

Conversation shifts, and Mightyena starts talking about what Poochyena and Ralts have been getting up to. I notice how much all of this feels... normal. Just sitting around a table, eating good food, having casual conversation. It's the first time since I came to this world that nothing is really happening. After all the never-ending excitement, it's nice to take a break for a bit. Still, compared to everything else, this feels a little... boring.

Eventually, we finish our meal and start to leave the table. "Oh, Mudkip," Snivy says, "now that your Wildfire's gone, do you wanna hear about Volomans?"

"Oh yeah! I'm really interested in how you managed to find it after so much of our searching turned up nothing."

"Alright, follow me, and I'll tell you the story." We begin walking up the stairs. "So, after you left, I tried asking around town, but we had already asked pretty much everyone. So I went to the library, and checked out books on geography, mystery dungeons, history, anything that might be useful. I spent a whole day reading, but I still didn't find anything. The librarian didn't know anything either.

"Then, when I went home, Poochyena and Ralts asked what we had been doing, and I told them about Volomans. When I described it, Poochyena said that it reminded them of a book they had read. I went to the library and found it, and here it is!"

Snivy opens a drawer and pulls out a small picture book. They open it and read the story. To summarize, long ago, a volcano was going to erupt, and there was a village nearby that would be destroyed. But instead of running away, all the people of the village went inside the volcano through a cave, and wished for the eruption to stop. Apparently, the volcano reacted to their wishes and stopped, granting the people's wish. And so, the story of the wish-granting volcano was passed down through the ages.

"Okay," I say, "that... doesn't really tell us much. How does-"

"I know, I know. I didn't really think anything of it either at first, but apparently it's based on an actual ancient myth that was passed down since long ago! The volcano in the story was based on Mt. Vatimalo, to the north of here. This was my only real lead, so I went back to the library and asked about Mt. Vatimalo. I spent hours looking over more geography books, until I found this!"

Snivy pulls out another book, this one big, old, and a bit dusty. They flip it open to a bookmarked page. "Check it out!"

I step forward and look at the map. I don't see Maceria Town on it, but I recognize the landscape, and it even shows an unnamed mystery dungeon at the same place as the Violet Void. It must be pretty old. I look north, where a big mountain is shown, labeled...

Mt. Volomans.

I turn to Snivy. "... That's... That's why no one's ever heard of it! It's an old name, it's like- how old is this book?!"

"500 years. According to the librarian, the name must have shifted over time, and no one is old enough to remember the old name! No one except for..."

"Except for Mew! So they used the outdated name because they haven't had contact with people for hundreds of years! This is amazing! When do we leave?"

"We can leave today! I already told everyone that we'd be leaving right when you got back, but then we ended up delaying it a bit. But we can go right now!"

"Alright! Let's pack our bags and say goodbye to everyone."

And we do just that. Spurred by our excitement, we pack up our food and tent and run downstairs. As we're saying goodbye to Mightyena and the others, Lilligant asks if we'll come back after we're done. We say yes, but Mightyena brings up the fact that I'm returning home. I'd... actually forgotten about that. I tell them I'll see if I can come back one last time before leaving.

And with that, we're off! With a compass and map in hand, we leave Maceria Town and head north, quickly spotting the huge mountain in the distance. It's so big that we probably could've seen it from Amari Village, or even from the beach outside Marine Cavern. It's funny to think that our goal was right there the whole time...

Well, not 'right there'. More like 'way over there'.

We spend almost the whole day walking, occasionally taking breaks to eat and rest. It isn't boring, though; we see all sorts of sights on the way, and we entertain each other with stories. We play I Spy, and make up other games we can play while walking.

By the end of the day, we've gotten a lot closer, but we still have a lot of walking to do. We end up stopping in a big forest, our view of Volomans blocked. As night approaches, Snivy sets up the tent while I gather some food. After dinner, we waste no time getting to sleep, entering the tent and settling into our sleeping bags.

Minutes pass as I think about the day, before I decide to talk. "Hey Snivy?" I whisper.

"Yeah?"

"I really like adventuring with you."

"Ditto. I'm so excited to be exploring the legendary wish-granting mystery dungeon with you! Do you think we'll be able to get there tomorrow?"

"Maybe. I'm glad we'll finally be able to stop the Wildfire... And, um..."

"What?"

"I'm... really glad I met you."

"Me too. Goodnight Mudkip."

"Goodnight Snivy."

The next day, we get up early and resume our journey. We walk for over an hour, passing the time just like yesterday while admiring the scenery of the forest. It's pretty uneventful, until Snivy suddenly perks up. "Hey, is that the end of the forest up there?"

I look ahead, and in the distance there's a bright light, brighter than what little light shines through the leaves above. I'm about to respond to Snivy, when they suddenly start running! I chase after them, but with their head start, I fall behind. As they reach the edge of the forest, they slow to a stop, and when I catch up, I see it.

A giant mountain looms over us, tall enough to make a building look like a dollhouse in comparison. A small trail of smoke rises from its volcanic peak, and small spots of rock glow with a deep red hue near its base. Volomans is right there...

"Last one there's a rotten egg!" Snivy shouts.

We take off running towards the mountain, dashing around rocks and over hills, until a cave entrance comes into view. Snivy overtakes me and makes it to the cave first, jumping and cheering in their victory, while I slow to a stop just outside.

"Haha! Looks like you're a rotten egg, Mudkip!.. Mudkip? What's up?"

"... That." I point inside the cave, at something I haven't seen even once in my time in this world, and certainly not in a place like this.

A computer.

"... What is that?" Snivy walks over to it, the alien machine blinking lights and making a low humming sound. They hesitate a moment before touching it. "Whoa... Mudkip, have you ever seen anything like this?"

"Yeah, actually, back on Earth. I've never seen one exactly like this, but we have machines similar to it."

"Whoa, seriously?! Why didn't you tell me you had cool stuff like this back home? Do you think this thing came from Earth?"

"It could be. Maybe Mew brought it to Earth along with me? In any case, we're probably in the right place."

"C'mon, lets go deeper in!"

We start walking through the dungeon, seeing a few more computers along the way. None of them have any keyboards or monitors, so we just ignore them and keep walking. After turning a corner, we see a glowing light around the next turn. We hurry forward and, when we finally see the source of the light, we're stunned.

We stand in a room filled with various computers and machines and in the center of the room, a large, cylindrical tube stands like a pillar, filled with ice and giving off a cold mist. Inside, there's a distinct outline, and as we get closer, I can even make out the details.

Sitting there, frozen inside the tube, is Mew.

"Mudkip," Snivy whispers.

"Yeah?"

"What is going on?"

"I... I think this is definitely the right place."

Snivy turns and grabs me by the shoulders. "Mudkip! We are standing in a legendary mystery dungeon, with strange technology everywhere, and MEW, the GUARDIAN POKEMON OF THE WORLD, is right in front of us! I just... need a minute..."

"Okay. I'll look around and see if I can find a way to release mew, or something."

"yeah... you do that..."

I start looking around, seeing lots of computers and machines, including a microwave. All around, there's black soot covering the floor and machines, and the whole place smells like smoke. Except the microwave; that smells like popcorn.

Surprisingly, all the computers still seem to be turned on and working. I see one with a keyboard, mouse, and monitor, with a screensaver bouncing around. I give the mouse a click, and the screensaver disappears as things start happening on screen; I must have accidentally clicked something! The computer makes a startlingly loud start-up noise, alerting Snivy.

"AHH! Mudkip, what did you do?!"

"I don't know, it's-"

The computer makes another noise, and the screen starts playing a video. We turn our attention to the screen to see the video showing Mew, floating in front of the camera. They don't seem to realize the recording had started.

_"Hmm... Wait, did it- Oh! Okay, *ahem*. Video log #1, day 1 of the Volomans Project."_


	28. Mew

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My college term has ended, so I'll be uploading more frequently now.

_Video log #1, day 1 of the Volomans Project. I am Mew, the 6th Guardian of this world. It's been 749 years since I was born. This will be my first project as a guardian. Back when I first became the guardian, I heard a myth about Volomans spread by the mortals; they said that if you traveled to the heart of the volcano and spoke a wish, your wish would be granted. What actually happened is that a previous guardian secretly stopped the volcano from erupting and saved a bunch of people, thus 'granting their wish' for their village to be saved._

_Despite the misunderstanding, I've recently decided that a wish granting mountain would make a good addition to the world. I haven't figured out exactly how to do it, but I plan to build a machine that will give the volcano the ability to grant wishes. Using former Guardian Jirachi's theory of desire, which describes..._

What follows is 2 minutes complicated scientific jargon, followed by 5 more minutes on how that jargon will be used in the machine.

_... so in summary, the machine will react to the pokemon's desire, draw power from the volcano's heat, and, somehow, use that power to grant the pokemon's wish. I haven't figured out how exactly to make it do that yet, but I'm in no rush to finish this project; I have plenty of time to experiment. I've set up a laboratory inside Volomans, where I'll work on the project. Of course, I'll be recording all my discoveries and progress for future guardians and my own reference._

The video ends, and another automatically starts.

_Video log #2, day 5 of the Volomans Project. I've built a small device that responds to desire. It only measures the strength of the desire, not the nature, but it's a necessary step. It was difficult to test, since I can't just go around talking to the pokemon of the world. It had a few bugs, but I think I've got it figured out. Details will be in a separate file, along with blueprints of other machines and such._

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_Video log #3, day 13 of the Volomans Project. I've made a miniature version of the final product. It reacts to desire, and upon sensing a high enough level of it, starts drawing power from the volcano's heat. It doesn't necessarily grant the pokemon's wish, but right now I have it powering a microwave. Whenever I feel hungry, it automatically makes me popcorn, so I'm pretty sure it has potential. It also makes popcorn whenever I strongly desire anything, but popcorn is just pretty satisfying in general, so it's fine. You can find the blueprints in the other file._

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_Video log #4, day 53 of the Volomans Project. I've made a breakthrough! 3 weeks ago, I was reading up on Jirachi's reports, and I might have found a way to make the device really grant wishes! So Jirachi discovered that..._

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__

_... and that's how it could work! Basically, I can use Jirachi's theories to make the power drawn by the machine recognize the nature of the desire it detects and follow the lead of that desire. I made a new device that can detect the nature of a desire, rather than just its strength. After I got that working, I used it to modify the miniature machine and hooked it up to multiple colored lights. It guides electricity using the desire it detects and lights up the light that you want. It took a while to do, and it still has some glitches, but the fact that it even partly works shows great potential! In other news, I've reworked the microwave to work the same way. It still sometimes makes popcorn for no reason, but that's life._

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_Video log #5, day 71 of the Volomans Project. I've been experimenting with the new machines, and I think energy might be an issue; the volcano's heat just doesn't provide enough power to do what I need it to. To address this, I'll be building the final product, the Wish Machine, in the deepest part of Volomans to ensure it has enough heat to convert to electricity._

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_Aside from that, my experiments are proceeding nicely, and the mini machine now works wirelessly, able to power the microwave from across the room! I'm still having trouble with properly directing the desire, however..._

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_Video log #6, day 108 of the Volomans Project. Another breakthrough! I've changed the way the machine works; instead of trying to read the desire and direct the power that way, the new method is to just direct the energy into the source of the desire! It's more complicated than that; I'm not just going to be pumping geothermal energy into poor unsuspecting mortals, so the energy will have some programming attached. The way it works is with the findings of Guardian Uxie..._

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_... and that allows me to program code into the energy itself! Basically, by giving the energy to the person making the wish, they can then grant the wish themself. I haven't tested it on any living beings yet, obviously, so some of Jirachi's machines have been useful in artificially simulating desires for testing. As always, the details will be in the usual file. Unfortunately, the power output still seems a bit weak, and the energy seems to give out too early. I'll be working on those problems next._

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_Video log #7, day 145 of the Volomans Project. I've been making steady progress so far, but just recently I've managed to make sure that the energy sticks around until the wish is granted; that is, until the desire fully disappears. I've also increased the amount of energy, and made it able to replenish itself even after leaving the machine, so it's guaranteed to stick around for as long as it needs to! I did end up frying a few machines with the extra power, so it'll be a while until organic testing._

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_Oh yeah, and I've finally started construction on the Wish Machine! It's pretty inconvenient to go back and forth between the lab and the core, so I've been getting lots of practice with teleporting myself. I wonder how mortals do it, walking around so much..._

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_Video log #8, day 164 of the Volomans Project. I've perfected the machines as much as I can with artificial testing, so I'll soon be moving on to testing on living beings. Don't worry about the fried machines, I've found and tested a solution. Also, the Wish Machine in the core is now mostly complete; I've added the function for it to spread its programming to Volomans itself, so the mountain will truly be able to grant wishes. I'm looking forward to the end result!_

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_Video log #9, day 170 of the Volomans Project. I've started organic testing, and its... difficult. Real, natural desires are pretty chaotic, and finding test subjects that have a strong enough desire to trigger the machine is hard. Luckily, most pokemon seem more than willing to help out the Guardian of the world, so no issues on that front. I do have to wipe their memories of me afterward, but that's easy. As for the results, the machine works pretty well; I've tested it with pretty simple and readily attainable desires, and the machine gives the wish-maker the power to accomplish their goal. Everything's going great!_

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_Um, okay, uh, video log 10, day 173 of the project. There's a major glitch- I mean, 2 major glitches in the machine. So, I decided to test and see what would happen with more complex and difficult desires. When the testers' wishes couldn't be granted, I just let them go after wiping their memories. As it turns out, the energy never left their bodies, so they've been running around outside and spreading the- oh yeah, the glitch. So, I accidentally mixed some of the machine's code into the energy's programming, so now anyone carrying the energy can act like a living version of the Wish Machine, granting the energy to anyone nearby with a strong enough desire. And then those people can spread it to more people so now there's a bunch of super-powered pokemon running around AND IT'S OUT OF CONTROL!_

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_So, um, the second glitch. Ever since I started organic testing, the machine would sometimes stop responding to controls. It used to be no issue; it would still grant wishes automatically and the problem would usually fix itself. But now, the machine hasn't been responding for the past 24 hours and it won't let me turn it off. It's starting to malfunction and overheat, and I don't know what's going to happen._

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_VIDEO LOG 11, PEOPLE ARE CATCHING ON FIRE!! Sorry, um, it's been a week, and I found 3 more problems. First, the energy's automatic replenishing feature never stops generating energy, so after long enough the energy overflows and people start burning from the inside! Second, the energy has some unintended effects on the holder's emotions, which end up strengthening the holder's desires, which strengthens the Wildfire- oh yeah, I decided to call this awful collection of glitches the Wildfire, because it spreads and it burns people and I NEED TO PUT IT OUT!_

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_Third, the machine is going even more out of control. I had the idea early on to make the machine spread its programming to Volomans itself so that it could be a big wish-granting volcano and now its doing that AND I CAN'T MAKE IT STOP! Even if I remove the Wish Machine, the mountain's already been infected, and it'll keep getting worse. If this gets bad enough, I might need to remove this entire mountain, and the Wildfire has already spread so far that it'll probably take years to clean up! Even then, this thing has already done so much damage, I- I'm wasting time here, I need to go._

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_Video log 12. It's been a few weeks, and I'm making progress on finding some solutions. I've prioritized fixing the machine, because soon it'll make anyone near the mountain able to catch the Wildfire. I've started building a device that can forcefully reprogram the machine and make it turn Volomans back to normal._

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_In other news, I myself have caught the Wildfire. Ironically, it seems to be in response to my desire to stop the Wildfire, my desire to fix my mistake. I can't call this an accident; I should have tested it more thoroughly before I started organic testing. Anyway, it's not as bad as it sounds; the Wildfire's emotional effects actually help me focus on fixing all this. It should just go away after I've fixed the machine, so it probably won't be a major issue._

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_Video log 13, there's a major issue! I don't know how long its been, a few days or something, but there's a problem! So, all the controls for my more complex machines use soul-reading technology to let me more conveniently control them, INCLUDING the device to reprogram the Wildfire machine! As it turns out, having the Wildfire's energy inside you messes with your soul, so now the device doesn't recognize me and I can't use it._

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_Worse, no one else can use the device either, because it specifically recognizes a GUARDIAN'S soul. I'm also running out of time; it won't be long before I burn up. I've found a solution; I'll go to another dimension and find someone with a soul similar enough to mine to work the device. I've found a dimension that has lots of inhabitants that come pretty close, so I should be able to find at least one person there who will be able to operate the device._

As the next video starts, the screen shows Mew engulfed in glowing red flames.

_Log 14, I found someone, but I messed up the return trip and they got flung to a random location. Looking for them now._

In the next video, the flames have grown to take up the entire screen, blocking the background. Mew is holding a device that looks like a big blue key.

_Jamie, I'm freezing myself to stay alive! Use the device to reprogram the machine and don't unfreeze me until you do!_

The video ends, and with no more videos left to play, the room finally goes quiet.


	29. Volomans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For people unfamiliar with pokemon, here are images of the (important) new pokemon that appear in this chapter:  
> [Excadrill](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/6/63/530Excadrill.png)  
> [Arcanine](https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/b/b8/059Arcanine.png)  
> 

After the computer goes quiet, I take a minute to explain what a video is to my freaked-out partner. Soon enough, Snivy calms down.

"So," Snivy says. "Mew created the Wildfire."

"Yeah. A mystery dungeon that grants wishes turned into a power that corrupts desires. It's strange to know that so much pain came from good intentions."

Snivy nods. "So, we need to find that device and take it to the deepest room of the dungeon, where the Wish Machine is, right?"

"Right. It should be somewhere around... there!" I spot a familiar blue device resting on a desk. We walk over and inspect it. Just like in the video, it's kinda like a big key, with bulky parts that probably contain machinery or computer stuff. Next to it lies a piece of paper.

The paper is burned on the edges, but the drawings on it are still visible. They seem to be instructions for using the device. We check out the instructions for a moment before putting the device in our bag and moving on.

At last, we begin our exploration of Volomans. As we travel deeper into the volcano, it gradually gets hotter. We occasionally encounter glowing red spots around the tunnel, and we only need to get close to tell that they're way too hot to touch.

Eventually, the cramped tunnel opens into a wider room. That'd be nice if not for one problem; we're now standing on an elevated platform with a giant pool of lava below us, making the room even hotter than the tunnel.

Snivy and I take a drink from our water bottles, which are fortunately very full. Despite the uncomfortable heat, I'm awestruck by the sight; I've never seen lava before, except on TV, and now I'm inside a giant volcano full of it! It's amazing! And very, very hot.

We hurry forward, eager to leave the room. The platform mostly makes a solid bridge over the lava, but towards the end of the room, there's a gap. It's only about a meter across, but...

After a moment of inspecting the gap, Snivy turns to me. "I guess we'll have to jump across."

"You don't think there's a safer way?"

"Nope. There weren't any other paths back there, and I think just jumping is the safest way across. I'll go first, alright?"

"... Alright."

Snivy walks backward from the gap, then gets a big running start. They leap into the air and soar across the gap, landing gracefully on the other side. "See? It's easy."

I walk back to get ready, but just as I start running, I slow to a stop; I can't stop thinking about the lava below...

"Hey," Snivy says from across the gap, "if you don't make it, I'll catch you, alright? I promise."

I nod. "Alright." I walk back to my position. I hesitate for a few more seconds, then I start running. The thought of stopping crosses my mind, but I keep going. I reach the gap, and as I jump over and look down, I get a terrifying view of what awaited me if I had failed. Luckily, I land safely on the other side, my heart racing.

Something touches my shoulder, and I jump a bit before looking up to see Snivy.

"You okay Mudkip?"

"Yeah... yeah. Thanks."

We continue on, exiting the room. Fortunately, the temperature is cooling down now that we're walking away from the lava pool, but it's still hot.

"Do you think we'll have to jump over more lava up ahead?" I ask.

"I dunno. Rooms like that might be rare here, but they also might be common. It's kinda weird though; mystery dungeons are sometimes dangerous, but I've never heard of any that are this deadly."

"Do you think the Wish Machine is affecting it? Or could it just be that it's a volcano?"

"Probably just the fact that its a volcano; most places just don't have anything as dangerous as lava, so-"

Snivy freezes as we hear a rumbling noise from the ground get closer. It gets louder and louder, and Snivy jumps backward just in time, as an Excadrill suddenly erupts from the ground Snivy had been standing on!

The Excadrill immediately pounces at me, and I just barely manage to dodge out of the way. As I land, I try to hit it with a water gun, but it sidesteps it and opens its mouth, blasting me with a glowing red flamethrower! It hurts, but it's a good thing I'm a water-type.

Snivy jumps in and lashes at the Excadrill with vine whip, landing a couple good smacks on its face. The Excadrill flinches, then turns and slashes as Snivy with a flaming claw, landing a direct hit and knocking Snivy to the ground! I try to use water gun again, but it jumps into the air to dodge it. Still airborne, it begins to spin, and when it lands, it burrows into the ground like a drill.

I freeze, focusing on the ground, waiting for the moment it'll attack me from below. I feel the rumbling get closer, but before it reaches me, the Excadrill suddenly jumps out from the ground, flying towards me! Before I can react, it slashes me with its claws as it passes above, burrowing back underground when it lands as I fall to the ground.

I stand back up and look around, when I suddenly hear the ground rumbling behind me. I jump to the side just in time, and the Excadrill dives by me and burrows underground again. A few seconds later, I hear the rumbling again, and I jump away, dodging it completely. While it's in the air, a vine suddenly wraps around it and pulls it off course, making it crash into the ground!

As Snivy retracts their vine, I take advantage and shoot a water gun at Excadrill before it can get up. It starts to stand, but as my attack hits, it writhes in pain and collapses again! Just as my attack ends, Snivy jumps into the air, spinning acrobatically as leaves start to spiral around their tail. They slam their tail onto the downed Excadrill, the tornado of leaves cutting into it!

The Excadrill finally stops moving, but instead of evaporating into smoke, its body burns away in a red flame. Within seconds, the Excadrill is gone.

I turn to my partner. "Hey Snivy, you got hit pretty hard back there. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just pain. You?"

"Same. Want an oran berry?"

"I don't know, we only have 2 left. How about we each have half?"

"Sounds good."

Half an oran later, and my pain is fading.

"So," Snivy says, still chewing their berry, "that was the Wildfire, right?"

"Yeah; Excadrill can't normally use fire."

"That, and the red glow. And how it burned up after we beat it."

"That's weird though; the Wildfire latches onto desire, but you said wild pokemon just act on instinct."

"Yeah. Maybe the whole dungeon is getting infected by the energy the machine's spewing out, and the pokemon it's creating have that energy mixed into them."

"Huh. Can stuff like that happen?"

"I dunno. Anyway, that thing was tough."

"Yeah. We should probably avoid fighting if we can."

We continue through the uncomfortably hot dungeon. I would think I'd be sweating at this point, but I don't think a Mudkip even can sweat. Eventually, we come to a cross roads. The right path is quite a scary sight; another of those lava pool rooms, and it's so hot I can feel it from here. I think I even see more gaps in the road we'll have to jump across. The left path leads around a corner.

"Left path?" Snivy suggests.

"Hang on a sec." I whisper. I tiptoe over to the left path and peek around the corner. Deeper into the tunnel, a Charizard and another Excadrill are walking around, pacing back and forth as they seemingly patrol the dungeon. I walk back to Snivy and report.

"Whoa," Snivy says, "yeah, I don't think we can fight two of those. Good idea checking."

"Well, one of us has to look before we leap. So... right path then, I guess?"

Snivy sighs. "Yeah, I guess."

We head down the right path, and much to our dismay, this room is bigger than the first and there are several gaps in the path, below which lies lava. There are two exits, but the left one is too high to reach, so we start walking towards the right exit.

As we walk, we have to jump over a few gaps. Fortunately, everything goes fine. I wish I could say I'm getting used to jumping over pits of fiery death, but I'm not getting any less scared. We're over half way to the exit...

When a ferocious howl echos through the room.

We turn to see an Arcanine standing at the left exit, glaring at us as red flames surround its body. It howls again before leaping onto the path, sprinting towards us! The path is too narrow to fight on; we could easily fall. The only option is to-

"Run run run!" Snivy shouts, dashing towards the exit as I follow close behind. With no time to prepare, we jump across the next gap successfully, the Arcanine's footsteps growing closer by the second. There's just one gap left before we'll be on solid ground.

As we approach the gap, I feel flames strike me from behind! I slow down, but I have to keep running or Arcanine will catch up. Snivy and I reach the gap, but while Snivy jumps at full speed, I'm still slowed from Arcanine's attack. I jump as far as I can, but while Snivy lands perfectly, I barely manage to grab the ledge, my back legs dangling off. I desperately try to scramble up from the edge, but I can't grip the ground, I start sliding off and-

I'm falling. I'm falling and I can see the lava below me and I feel the heat getting closer and closer and-

Something wraps around my torso. I look up and see Snivy leaning over the ledge, struggling to pull me up. I'm alive... Wait! I look over to see the Arcanine standing on the other side of the gap. It growls at Snivy as flames start to gather in its mouth. Snivy sees it too, but they can't dodge. I try to steady myself against the wall to my side, angling myself to face the Arcanine. I open my mouth...

As Arcanine blasts a flamethrower at Snivy, I intercept it with a water gun! The fire and water clash and form a cloud of steam between us. Snivy manages to pull me up, and we sprint down the tunnel, away from the room. Behind us, the Arcanine lets out one last howl; whether its angry that we escaped or satisfied that it chased us away, we don't know.

After a minute straight of running, we both stop and gasp for breath, collapsing to rest on the ground. My heart is racing faster than it ever has. I've never been so glad to be standing on solid ground.

"See..." Snivy says, still breathing hard, "I promised I'd catch you..."

"You sure did... How many times have you saved me now?"

"I don't know; I stopped counting."

"Fair enough. You wanna just rest here awhile?"

"Yeah."


	30. The Wish Machine

After stopping for a rest and drinking some water, Snivy and I continue our journey. We would've rested for longer, but we both wanted to get through this dungeon and out of this heat as soon as possible. As we walk through a curve in the tunnel, a rhythmic banging noise gradually gets closer. We carefully peek around a corner and spot a Golem repeatedly punching the wall.

"Hey Snivy, why's it doing that?" I whisper.

"I have no idea. Maybe the Wildfire's messing with its head?"

"Yeah, that seems likely. That Arcanine from before seemed territorial, like it was guarding that room, so it does seem like the Wildfire is making them act weird."

"Huh. Anyway, that thing is rock-type, right?"

"Better; rock and ground."

"Perfect. Wanna test out our special combo attack?"

"Oh yeah!" I'd forgotten about that; on the trip here, Snivy and I learned new moves while we were sparring, and we figured out a combo with them. Now's the perfect chance to try it! "Alright, I'll distract it, then you do your thing!"

Snivy nods in agreement, and I dash around the corner. As I get close, the Golem spots me and punches down at me, but I step out of range, and its fist hits the ground! I keep moving, making some distance and putting the Golem between me and Snivy. I blast a water gun at it, and it flinches and turns towards me.

The Golem starts running towards me, now thoroughly distracted. Snivy jumps out from behind the corner and presses their hands to the ground. Vines sprout from the ground around the Golem, lashing and whipping wildly, forcing the Golem to stop in its tracks as it tries to defend itself! Red flames start to ignite around the Golem as it prepares to burn the vines away...

I raise my forelegs in the air and slam them onto the ground, and moments later, a geyser erupts under the Golem, blasting it with water and extinguishing its flames! Snivy's vines are soaked along with the Golem, and as they absorb the water, they grow bigger and stronger, wrapping around the Golem and pulling it to the ground!

Snivy dashes forward and leaps into the air, spinning as leaves gather around their tail. They slam the leaf tornado onto the helpless Golem, causing it to cry out in pain! Then, the tunnel falls silent as the Golem goes limp. A moment later, the wild Golem burns away in a red flame.

"Woo hoo!" Snivy cheers, running towards me. I run forward to meet them, and we high-five in celebration. "That was perfect! We didn't even get hit once!"

"Yeah! You did awesome!"

" _You_ did awesome! We did awesome! We should have, like, a team name!"

"Oh, good idea. How about... the Firefighters!"

"Oh yeah, 'cause we're stopping the Wildfire! But, wait, wouldn't that make people think we're literal firefighters?"

"Oh. Good point. We should totally come up with a team name later though."

"Totally."

We stop for a minute to have some water, then continue onward. It feels like the dungeon is getting even hotter the deeper we go. Luckily, we brought plenty of water. The glowing red patches of rock get more frequent, and we have to carefully walk around them. Soon, we turn a corner and enter the hottest room yet.

The red glow covers the whole ceiling, with the center of the ceiling glowing the brightest. From that brightest point, a small drop of lava periodically drips down, landing in a small pool in the floor that's about the size of a cauldron. It's quite the sight, but our main point of interest lies at the back wall of the room.

The Wish Machine.

It's a giant machine built into the wall, the metal of it glowing a dark red. A monitor on it continually flashes an error message, and the noise we first assumed had been coming from the surrounding volcano is now obviously the loud whirring of the machine. Behind it, the rock wall is glowing the same dark red as the machine itself, the glow spreading outward. It's like the rock itself is being infected with the Wildfire.

Snivy pulls Mew's key-like device out of their bag and we review the instructions. First, I have to touch a special pad on the device so it can read my soul or whatever and activate. Then, we stick it into a slot in the machine. Finally, I touch a soul-reading pad on the machine to make it, I don't know, work with the device or something. The pictures were a bit vague on the details.

With our review finished, we step towards the machine.

"Whoa!" Snivy says, suddenly taking a step back.

"What is it?"

"That machine is way too hot! I don't want to even stand near it!"

Well, it is hotter closer to the machine, but... "It isn't that hot."

"You probably just don't feel it 'cause you're a water-type."

"Oh. Well that's convenient."

We start the process of using the device. I press my foreleg against the pad on the device, and it starts glowing a light blue. Snivy takes it and sticks it into the machine, complaining about the heat all the while. Then, I walk up and press my foreleg to the machine's pad, and it starts glowing blue! It's pretty dim at first, but it gradually-

"Ow!" I flinch and pull my leg away from the machine.

"Oh shoot! Did you get burned? I bet that feels like putting your hand on the stove."

"Not that bad," I say, inspecting my leg. "I'd say it's like washing your hands with water that's too hot, but a level or two above that." It started out just hot, but it got worse the longer I touched it. Fortunately, I pulled away before I got actually burned. Unfortunately, the blue glow on both the device and the machine have faded. Looks like I need to keep holding it until the device finishes.

"Do you need an oran berry?"

"No, I'm fine. Let me try something." I walk over and pull the device out of the machine. I wrap my foreleg in my Joy Scarf and press it to the device. No effect. "Shoot. Looks like it needs direct skin contact."

"That's... bad. Maybe you can cool it down with water first?"

"I don't think that's a good idea; water might break the machine, and we need to keep it working so that we can reprogram it to fix the mountain."

"Oh. Well, how about this!" Snivy reaches into their bag and pulls out an oran berry. "Put this in your mouth. Then, when it starts to hurt, you can bite down on it and it'll heal you!"

"That might work, but how long will this thing take? I don't know if I'll have enough berry to last the whole time, and we only have one left."

"Hmm... Well, I'm out of ideas."

"If that's the best we can come up with, it'll have to work; we can't just leave the dungeon like this, or the Wildfire will never go away."

"Right. Too many people have been hurt by this, and too many more will be hurt if it isn't stopped. I wish I could help somehow..."

"Your idea is better than anything I've come up with. I'll just have to hope Mew's device works fast enough."

We start the process again, activating the device and sticking it into the machine. Snivy hands me the oran berry, and I put it in my mouth. Finally, I take a deep breath, and I touch the pad on the machine.

It feels okay at first; uncomfortably hot, but nothing more. The pad starts to emit a dim blue glow that gradually brightens. The heat of the machine slowly gets harder to take, becoming painful after only a few seconds. Soon, it gets unbearable, and I bite down on the berry.

I swallow a bit of the fruit, and the pain instantly lessens. A moment later, though, and it's back. I space it out as much as possible, taking little bites every few seconds. The blue light reaches peak brightness, and stops growing brighter. I look to the monitor, but it's still flashing the error message; I need to keep going.

Once again, the pain starts building up, and I bite down, only to find that I'm chewing on nothing but the skin of the berry. I swallow it down, but it's not enough; the pain keeps building. Within seconds, I'm feeling the full force of the machine's heat. It hurts like touching metal that's been sitting out in the summer sun, and my body is screaming at me to pull away.

I give in to the urge, and pull my foreleg away for just a second, but the blue light starts to dim. I close my eyes touch the pad again, restoring the light's brightness. I can't pull away; I need to fix the machine. For Krokorok and Treecko and everyone the Wildfire's hurt, for everyone who the Wildfire will hurt in the future, I WILL do this! I NEED TO DO THIS!!

I feel determination flaring up in my heart, and the heat of the machine feels less painful... A lot less painful. Strength surges through me, and I sense a different kind of heat inside me. I open my eyes-

And see a glowing red flame covering my foreleg.

The blue light gradually dims, and I recall Mew's words. _'As it turns out, having the Wildfire's energy inside you messes with your soul, so now the device doesn't recognize me and I can't use it.'_ It's just like what happened to Mew; my desire to stop the Wildfire is making the Wildfire infect me!

I force those thoughts out of my head, ignoring the desires. The flames shrink, and the blue light stops dimming, but I flinch as the burning pain returns. I can't stand holding my leg here, and I want to pull away. I think about Krokorok and the others again, and the pain fades, but the Wildfire flares up again, and the light continues to dim. I can't keep my leg there without motivation, but I can't motivate myself without strengthening the Wildfire. I don't know what to do.

I look over my shoulder at Snivy, standing there with wide eyes; they can see my Wildfire, and they understand what's happening. "Snivy, help!"

Snivy stands frozen in shock for a moment, but quickly snaps out of it. They take a few steps forward, but they flinch from the heat and step back. "Um, uh, y-you can do it Mudkip! Just keep it up! I believe in you!"

Snivy's encouragement helps, but it's not enough. I'm trembling, and tears are starting fall from my eyes. Even worse, the Wildfire is still burning, and the light isn't getting any brighter.

Snivy keeps going. "I know you can do it! And Mightyena, and Treecko, and Krokorok, and Mew, they're all rooting for you! Everyone's counting on you!"

Snivy's right; everyone's counting on me! I can't let them down, I need to- the Wildfire flares up again, and the light dims.

"Shoot, I mean- Um, don't think about that! Just focus on, um, something!"

I follow Snivy's advice, and turn my thought to the Rainbow Rainforest, where Treecko and I cured our- No! Not that! The Twisting Tunnels, where Snivy and I fought that Steelix, and then we got our reward, then we got attacked by- No! Between the Wildfire and this pain, I can't control my thoughts! I'm panting my lungs out, and I feel like I'm about to collapse.

"Um, d-don't give up! Everything will be fine after the machine's fixed!" As Snivy's words motivate me, my Wildfire grows once more. "No, I mean- We have to- You- Uh, um..."

I try to avoid thinking about the Wildfire, but that leaves the pain as the only thing in my head. My leg feels like it's on fire. I have to pull away!

But just as I'm about to, I suddenly feel another hand press against my own.

"It's okay! It doesn't matter if you can't fix the machine! Everything will be fine anyway!"

I look to my side, and I see Snivy standing next to me, holding my foreleg against the pad. They're flinching in pain from the heat, but even as my Wildfire burns their hand, they still stand there.

"You don't need to fix it! If you can't, we'll do something else! We can wake up Mew and get them to fix their own mess! And we can still help the people with Wildfire, one at a time, just like we've done before! No matter what, everything will be fine!

"And after this, we'll go out and explore more mystery dungeons! You can take me to the Rainbow Rainforest, and we'll eat the fruit and play in the rain! We'll go on adventures, and discover new dungeons! See new places! We'll become a world-famous exploration team! Everything will be fine, so don't worry!"

As Snivy speaks, my mind is filled with visions of us together; exploring, fighting, playing. Smiling and laughing. They're right; even if I fail, we'll still be together. The Wildfire gradually shrinks down to nothing, and the blue light begins to grow brighter.

But without the Wildfire, the pain is too much. I try to pull away, to get away from the burning pain, but Snivy holds me there. My legs give out, but Snivy keeps holding me up, not letting me fall. It hurts. It hurts so much I can barely think, and I can't get away, but...

"Thank you, Snivy."

Eventually, the pain starts to fade; the machine is cooling down. I turn my eyes to the monitor, and although I can't read it in my current state, the message has changed. The red glowing rock behind the machine has started to recede. It's over. Soon, Snivy sees it too, and be both collapse to the ground.

Minutes pass in silence as we lay there. Eventually, I can think straight again, and it finally hits me; it's over. It's all over. With this, a lot less people will be infected, and the Wildfire will eventually disappear. We did it.

"... Mudkip, are you okay?" Snivy says, exhausted.

"... Yeah, just pain... My leg feels like an overcooked hamburger."

"Oh, I... Oh my gosh! Mudkip, I'm so sorry! I-I wasn't thinking, I just- I felt like we had to fix it right then and there, and-"

I giggle weakly. "We're you the one saying I _didn't_ have to fix it?"

"I... Well, I had to say something to stop your Wildfire, right?"

"It's fine. Thanks for helping me. I never would have been able to do it without you."

"Thanks. Or, you're welcome, I mean. Well, all that's left is to release Mew."

"Yeah. Then how about I take you to the Rainbow Rainforest?"

"Awesome."

After resting for a few minutes, we begin our walk out of the dungeon, tired and burned. I can't walk on my burned foreleg, so Snivy has to help me. Slowly but surely, we walk through the exit tunnel, finally leaving the heat of the dungeon.

Eventually, we return to Mew's laboratory. We walk up to the frozen cylinder containing Mew, and find a big red button labeled 'RELEASE'. We press it, and a blast of cold mist fills the room as the cylindrical tube slowly rises, and the ice inside melts. Soon, Mew is partially thawed out, and their eyes suddenly open.

Red flames cover Mew's body, rapidly melting the rest of the ice. Their eyes dart around the room before falling on me. "You! You're Jamie!" Mew flies toward me, grabbing me by the shoulders. "Did you do it? Is the machine reprogrammed?! Did you fix it!?!"

"Y-yes! We did it. We reprogrammed the machine. It's over. Everything's okay..."

"It's... over." Mew falls backward, slowly floating to the ground and simply lying there. The Wildfire around them shrinks down to nothing. "Oh my gosh... Finally... Thank you."

After a moment, I start to walk over to Mew, but as I set my leg on the ground, the pain of the burn shoots through me. "Ow!"

Mew looks up. "Hm? Oh, is that from the machine? That looks bad." Mew sits up and leans toward me, putting their hands on my foreleg. "Hold still a sec."

I hold still as Mew requests, and a pink glow covers my leg, the pain fading away. When the glow fades, my burn is gone!

"I'm not supposed to do stuff like that for mortals," Mew says, "but I think this is a fair exception. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll talk to you later; I haven't slept in weeks, and having all my biological processes frozen while a rogue program rages inside my brain doesn't make for very good rest." Mew falls back to the ground again, their eyes closed.

Snivy cautiously approaches Mew. "Um, Mew? What-"

"Talk later. Rest now. Go away."

"Okay sorry c'mon Mudkip let's leave Mew alone!"

We finally leave the cave, and we find some soft, non-rocky ground to set up our tent. The sky is bathed in orange as the sun starts to set. We could stay up and wait for the stars to come out, but we're both very, very tired, so we simply eat some dinner and go to sleep.

As Snivy and I settle into our sleeping bags, we simultaneously let out a sigh of relief.

It's finally over.


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. You don't have to read this, it doesn't contain anything necessary for the story, I just wanted to give my thoughts on the story and how it came to be. If you just want the story, feel free to simply proceed to the final chapter.
> 
> This story idea first started around a year or two ago, when I was just browsing youtube. A video popped up in my recommended: "PMD2 - DON'T EVER FORGET - Orchestral Remix". I don't like orchestral music nor remixes, but I was interested in Mystery Dungeon; I played PMD2 and Gates to Infinity when I was younger, so I decided to search the original version of the song.
> 
> And it hit me HARD.
> 
> The song was beautiful, and although I had forgotten the details of the game, I remembered the context of when this song played. As I listened, I came up with scenes in my head, reenacting the moment from the game. I looked up other songs, and after that, more Mystery Dungeon content; I was hooked.
> 
> That was when I stumbled upon the spark that started this story: the animated episode "Team Go-Getters Out of the Gate". The animation itself was nice, but I thought it was weird that the human in the episode simply went by Squirtle, not giving his former name. It made sense for the others to call him Squirtle, but I thought he should've told them his name and asked to be called that.
> 
> From that idea, the story started to grow; a human taken to the pokemon world meets their future partner, but the partner insists on calling them by their pokemon name. They would face trials and dangers, and the partner would grow to respect the human and call them by name, while the human would grow to accept their new body and name.
> 
> I didn't do much with the idea at first, and simply continued to obsess over Mystery Dungeon, replaying Gates to Infinity and falling in love with the tone and style of the series. Eventually, I finished the game and found myself coming back to that idea. I kept growing the story more and more, playing out scenes in my head, until I realized that it could actually be something I could write.
> 
> Finally, I finished outlining the story and plot, and I started writing. I wasn't sure I'd ever actually finish it, but when I finally wrote chapter 13, I had a feeling I'd go through with this until the end. This has been by my first big writing project, several times bigger than anything else I've made. I'm pretty amazed that I actually finished it.
> 
> I'm not completely satisfied with this story; the Wildfire was nothing more than an excuse plot to justify Mudkip and Snivy going on an adventure together, and it ended up distracting from what I actually wanted. And of course, there was Ralts. Oof. Because of all that, I might make a reboot of this story in the future, with a better main plot. But that won't be for a while.
> 
> Anyways, in all my fantasizing about scenes from the story, there was one scene that I came up with before any other, before even the Wildfire; this chapter was the end goal of this story. Anyone who's played a Mystery Dungeon game knows exactly what happens at the end of a story like this, and mine is no exception.
> 
> But one last thing before the chapter, I want to share these Mystery Dungeon songs. You don't have to listen to them, obviously, but they're beautiful and I love them and recommend them:
> 
> [Don't Ever Forget](https://youtu.be/mH_Zl2Rgl5M)
> 
> [Partner's Theme](https://youtu.be/xbr3x82DHhs)
> 
> [Run Away, Fugitives](https://youtu.be/YBXBDqaIL28)
> 
> [Time to Part Ways](https://youtu.be/RkgaIrPEyPk)
> 
> [Parting Farewell](https://youtu.be/ePK6ygkUk1Y)
> 
>   
> Now without further ado, please enjoy the finale to Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Friends Through Fire.

Chapter 31  
Goodbye

A sudden shout from outside wakes me up. I don't know what time it is, but it's earlier than I usually wake up, and I'm still exhausted from yesterday. From outside, I hear Mew's voice.

"Ah, I'm sorry for startling you, Snivy."

"O-oh, it's fine! I'm just pretty surprised to, you know, see the Guardian of the world."

"Right. Anyway, is Jamie here? I need to talk to them."

"Huh? Um, yeah, Mudkip's in the tent, but they're probably still asleep."

Something about the conversation gives me a weird feeling, but I'm too tired to think about that. Anyway, I was never one to fall asleep again after waking up, and Mew wants to talk to me, so I wiggle out of my sleeping bag and walk out of the tent, wiping the sleep from my eyes; the sun isn't even rising yet. "Did someone say my names?"

"Oh, Jamie, good!" Mew says. "I wanted to tell you that I'm ready to take you back now."

I suddenly get that weird feeling again. More importantly, I'm not sure if it's because I'm still three quarters asleep, but I don't understand what Mew means. "Take me... back? Back where?"

Mew raises an eyebrow. "Um, back home? To your world?"

"... Oh." I fall silent. I'd completely forgotten about that. The thing I've been chasing all this time. The whole reason I went on this adventure.

"So, are you ready to go?"

"Uh, yeah. How do we..."

"Just come over here, I've got everything all set up." I follow Mew to a circle of metal wire on the ground, formed into complex shapes. Mew grabs a small remote from the ground. "Just stand in this circle and think about your home, and it'll take you there."

"Um, okay..." I hesitate. I'm... finally leaving. I'm really going home. But I'm standing still. I don't know why; I'm too tired to think straight.

"Um..."

I turn behind me to see Snivy standing a few feet away, looking... uncertain. "What's up?" I ask.

"I... I'm..." Snivy pauses before letting out a small sigh and smiling at me. "I had a lot of fun on our adventures together. I'm really glad I met you, Jamie, and I'm glad you finally get to go back home. So... Goodbye, Jamie."

"Um, yeah, goodbye." I want to say more, but I can't think of much; I'm tired, half-asleep, and I'm getting that weird feeling again. "Uh, good luck becoming a famous explorer."

"Thanks. Good luck in the human world."

I turn back to Mew. "So do I just..." I cautiously step onto the wire circle.

"Yep," Mew says. "The process is powered by your desires. Just think about your home and tell me when your ready."

I'm tired, and it's been a while since I was home, but I can recall my home. My street, my school, my room... "Alright, I'm ready."

Mew presses a button on their remote, and a bright light surrounds me. Before I understand what's happening, I see the ground start falling, getting further away! After a moment, I realize I'm in a bubble of light, lifting me up into the air.

"Hey, you alright in there?" Mew asks, floating into the air alongside me.

"Um, yeah. Did you make this?"

"No, this is one of former Guardian Jirachi's inventions. It's been tested over thousands of years, so I can guarantee its safety."

"Oh. Good."

I try to keep focus and think about my home like Mew said, but I'm distracted by the sights that I start to see; as I'm lifted into the air, I look out across the land as it's bathed in the light of the rising sun. Pretty soon, I'm rising above Volomans, looking down on it from above. Turning around, I see Maceria Town in the distance, along with the Rainbow Rainforest to the west of it. Squinting to see farther, I see the forest that contains Amari Village, and behind that, I see the beach. I've had quite the journey here...

"Hmm, that's odd," Mew says as I stare at the beach. "We're moving slower than expected."

"Huh? Oh, sorry; I got distracted by the view up here."

"Well, a simple distraction shouldn't be causing any problems now that we've started rising. It might be an issue with your desires; after spending so long here, you're probably going to miss this place."

I... would. I would miss this place. I didn't notice at first, but I feel sad to be leaving. But still, I have my life back on Earth to get back to! Compared to that, all I have here is...

_'Alright Mudkip, from this day forth, we shall be partners!'_

That beach... It's where Marine Cavern is. Where I first met Snivy. They were such a jerk back then. And then after that...

_'Just jump down! I'll catch you, I promise!'_

_'Thanks for saving me back there, partner.'_

_'C'mon, it's a mystery dungeon! Don't you want to have fun?'_

_'The world isn't as dangerous as you seem to think, and we'll never get anything done without taking at least some risks.'_

_'I got a little carried away back there, but you're right; we take risks as a team.'_

_'C'mon, lay down and look at the stars with me!'_

_'I just... I'm glad I'm not alone out here anymore.'_

_'I'm glad I get to hang out with you again.'_

_'I missed you so much, Mudkip...'_

I'm shaken out of my memories when I hear Mew's voice beside me. "That's weird; the bubble stopped moving... Hmm? Jamie, why are you crying?"

I pause. I notice that, yes, I am crying. But more importantly, I notice that I just had that weird feeling again. "... Could you say that again, Mew?"

"Huh? Um, the bubble stopped moving, Jamie, why are you crying?"

Finally, I'm fully awake, and I realize everything about this is wrong! I haven't been thinking at all this morning, I've just been going along with what I thought I wanted. Now, I realize exactly what I want. More immediately, though, I finally realize what that weird feeling has been.

"That's not my name."

"Huh?" Mew says. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, my name's not Jamie! My name is-"

Suddenly, the bubble of light around me shatters, and I start to fall! Mew cries out in shock above me. They try to fly down and catch me, but they're too slow. The last thing I hear before I hit the ground is someone below me shouting a single word.

Chapter 31  
~~Goodbye~~  
Mudkip

I groan as I open my eyes; if I wasn't already sore from yesterday, I definitely am now, but I'm much less injured that I should be. I start to stand, and when I hear a small 'ow' in response, I realize I'm laying on something soft. Someone soft.

I roll off of Snivy, provoking more grunts of pain. I lay on the ground for a few seconds. Soon, Mew finally reaches the ground.

"Oh my gosh, are you alright?" Mew says. "I'm so sorry, I have no idea why that happened!"

Beside me, Snivy finally stands. "Mu- Jamie, what happened?! Is anything broken? Are you okay?"

I stand and turn to Snivy. "Ugh, yeah, just pain..." I giggle, thinking back on our adventures. "That makes this the 10th time you've saved me."

Snivy sighs with relief. "Seriously Jamie, why did you suddenly fall from the sky? Did that thing Mew did not work or something?"

"... Why have you been calling me 'Jamie' today?"

Snivy's expression shifts from concern to sadness. "Huh? Well, you're... your name is Jamie. I figured since you're leaving, it's not really right to call you Mudkip anymore..."

"That's silly. Jamie is a human name; I'm a pokemon."

"What? What are you... saying..?"

"I'm saying I'm not going home."

Snivy's eyes widen. "... what?" they whisper in disbelief.

"I don't want to go home, I want to stay here! I want to explore with you and have exciting battles! I want to discover the beautiful sights and magical things in dungeons! I want to camp out and sleep under the stars! I want to play with you in the forest without a care in the world! I want to stay with you, Snivy! I want to stay here, with my best friend..."

As I trail off, I finally notice Snivy's expression; tears are leaking from their eyes, and their mouth is hanging open. "Um, Snivy? Are you oka-"

"MUDKIP!!" Snivy lunges forward and embraces me, holding me so tight it almost hurts. "I was so scared I was gonna be alone again!" they say, bawling.

"Y-you were? But earlier you were so calm..."

"I didn't want you to feel bad," they say, continuing to cry. "If I was sad, you might have given up going home, even though you wanted to! I-I didn't want to guilt you into staying stuck here, or make you feel bad for leaving, I wanted you to be happy!"

"... You've changed so much, Snivy," I say as I return their embrace. Tears start to fall from my eyes as I realize what I nearly did. "I... I can't believe that I almost left you behind, that I never would've seen you again... I'm so sorry Snivy. I'm staying right here; this is my home now, and I'm not leaving. I promise."

"... Thank you, Mudkip. Thank you for everything..."

We stay there for a while; it could have been a few minutes, or an hour, neither of us wanting to let go. Finally, we're snapped out of the moment by the loud growl of Snivy's stomach.

"Um... you wanna have some breakfast?" Snivy suggests.

I giggle. "Yeah, let's do that."

Suddenly, Mew clears their throat. "Well, I think my job here is done then. I just need to make sure; Jami- I mean, Mudkip, are you sure you don't want to return to your world?"

I think about my life back on Earth. It's not a bad life, certainly, but I could never give up my life here. My bond with Snivy is stronger than anything I have in that world, and I've grown to love being an explorer. "I'm sure. Um, I'm allowed to stay here, right?"

"Yes, your presence here shouldn't cause any problems, but... Well, I'll check in on you in a few years just in case you change your mind. Anyways, I've got quite the mess to clean up; there are still plenty of pokemon running around with the Wildfire and spreading it to others. I'll see if I can make a cure, or a vaccine, or- Uh, I should get going though; I'm not supposed to be hanging around mortals. Goodbye, and thank you both for your help!"

With that, Mew disappears in a flash of light, leaving only me and Snivy. Exhausted, we sit down and eat breakfast in silence. Once finished, we pack up our tent and other stuff into our bags.

"So," I say, "what do we do now?"

"Well, I think we should head back to Maceria Town and visit Mightyena and the others."

"Oh, and we also promised Machop we'd go back and see them again."

"Right! And after that, you should take me to the Rainbow Rainforest; I want to try those fruits!"

"Yeah!.. But, what do we do after that?"

"Isn't it obvious? We'll wander! We'll travel the land in search of our next adventure! We'll see new sights and explore new dungeons! Are you ready?"

"Yeah!"

"Then come on, Mudkip; adventure awaits!"

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments, questions, and criticisms are encouraged and appreciated!


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